LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada's top doctor isn't licensed to practice medicine in the United States.
Ihsan Azzam testified in Las Vegas on Tuesday that he has a master's degree and worked for several years in environmental public health and epidemiology before being named chief state medical officer last May.
Azzam says he practiced for several years as an obstetrics and gynecology physician in Africa before moving to the United States in the 1990s.
That qualifies Azzam for the job under Nevada state law.
Azzam testified that while he has no background in anesthesia or pain management, he says the doses of three drugs proposed for an inmate's lethal injection would be enough to kill a mammoth.
Three drug manufacturers are trying to convince a judge that Nevada improperly obtained their products for an execution, which is not an approved use.