Tennessee’s failed execution of death row inmate Christa Pike, who reportedly survived two doses of pentobarbital and was taken to the hospital, has legal scholars, medical experts and state officials searching for answers.
The case has prompted Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to pause the rest of the state’s scheduled executions this year and order a third-party review. Interviewed experts newsweek Three possible explanations stand out: The drug may have never entered Pike’s bloodstream properly, pentobarbital may have been ineffective, or Pike may have had an unusual physiological reaction to the drug.
State officials have not publicly disclosed Pike’s condition. this tennessee Reports on Thursday said medical staff were working to save Pike’s life, but Vanderbilt University Medical Center declined to comment when contacted. newsweek and refer questions to the Tennessee Department of Corrections. The department later told newsweek It has no additional information to share.
Why experts think the drug may not have reached Parker’s bloodstream
One of the leading theories focuses on the intravenous lines used to administer drugs.
Corinna Barrett Lain, author of The Secret State of Killing: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection George E. Allen Professor of Law at the University of Richmond School of Law said Pike’s case is unlike any previous modern lethal injection.
“We’ve never had a person who was drugged during execution and survive,” Lane said. “We’ve had a couple of people… survive execution because they didn’t have access to a vein. But this was the first time they had access to a vein, and she survived.”
Lane said one possibility is that the IV failed during the procedure, allowing the drug to enter surrounding tissue instead of Pike’s bloodstream.
According to witnesses, Pike complained during the execution that her arm felt like it was “about to explode.” Lane said this description could be consistent with intravenous infiltration, in which the drug seeps into the tissue after the catheter emerges from the vein.
Emory University School of Medicine professor Joel Zivot was retained by Pike’s legal team as a medical expert but spoke with newsweek A similar theory has been advanced in a personal capacity.
Ziwert said one possible explanation is that the intravenous line failed during the procedure, allowing the pentobarbital to leak out of the vein instead of fully entering Parker’s circulatory system. He said this could explain why Pike appeared to be under the influence of drugs but survived the execution attempt.
Ziwert said the correct dose of pentobarbital should be fatal.
“A round done right would kill her,” he said.
Is pentobarbital by itself ineffective?
The second possibility focuses on the drug itself.
Both Lain and Zivot said the possibility that pentobarbital may degrade or become ineffective cannot be ruled out.
“Another possibility is that the pentobarbital itself is degraded,” Ziwert said, noting that details about how execution drugs are procured and prepared are often kept secret.
Lane pointed to previous problems with executions in Tennessee — drug storage and handling. She noted that the state previously paused executions after discovering problems with the protocol and conducted an independent review of the lethal injection process. Lane said the review identified issues involving the storage of compounded execution drugs that require strict temperature controls.
“It’s probably a weak drug,” Lane said. “It could be that the medication is fine but was stored improperly.”
Why Pentobarbital Is Controversial
Pentobarbital is a barbiturate sedative used in single-drug lethal injection programs in several states. When the dose is high enough, it can cause people to lose consciousness, stop breathing and ultimately lead to death.
But in recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to obtain pentobarbital for use in executions.
Major drugmakers have repeatedly opposed the use of their products in executions, according to information gathered by death penalty researchers. One manufacturer stated in 2015 that it “strongly opposes[s]”Its drugs are used in executions, while other companies have implemented contractual restrictions designed to prevent execution-related use.
Lane said states are increasingly turning to compounding pharmacies and alternative supply chains to obtain execution drugs after big pharmaceutical companies moved to block such sales. She argued that these arrangements could raise quality control concerns because compounded injectable drugs are manufactured and overseen to different standards than mass-produced drugs.
Lane said the possibility of drug degradation cannot be ruled out, while stressing that without more evidence it was still impossible to know exactly what happened in Pike’s case.
However, both Lane and Ziwert emphasized that there is currently no public evidence that the drugs used in Pike’s execution were defective.
Will Pike have an unusual reaction to this drug?
Lane also warns against assuming there is only one possible cause.
The body can react differently to drugs, she said, and it’s theorized that Pike may have experienced an unusual physiological reaction to the drug. Even so, she stressed that the apparent survival of a prisoner after taking lethal drugs was unlike any previous execution she was aware of.
Why was Christa Pike sentenced to death?
Pike was convicted of the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. Parker, now 50, was 18 at the time of the crime.
Pike met Slemmer while participating in Knoxville’s Job Corps government program, which provides education and job training to low-income young people.
Prosecutors said Pike was jealous of Slimer and accused Slimer of trying to steal her boyfriend, Tadariel Shipp.
On January 12, 1995, Pike, Shipp and another student lured Slimer to a secluded area near the University of Tennessee campus, where Peck and Shipp tortured, beat and killed her. Shipp also carved a five-pointed star on her chest.
According to witness testimony at the trial, Peck kept a piece of Slemmer’s skull, which she later showed to classmates.
She was 20 years old when she was found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy and sentenced to death in 1996.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee rejected a request for clemency on Monday.
What happens next?
State officials have not publicly explained why the enforcement failed.
The Tennessee Department of Corrections said it followed state-approved execution protocols and reported that Pike was transported to an off-site medical facility after the procedure.
Gov. Bill Lee has ordered a comprehensive review and a halt to the remainder of Tennessee’s executions this year. A few months ago, another execution attempt involving inmate Tony Carruthers was called off after officials were unable to establish intravenous access. The incident prompted a reexamination of Tennessee’s lethal injection procedures.
Neither Lane nor Chivert said there was enough public information to determine what exactly happened. Both said the final answer may depend on yet-to-be-released information, including medical records, details of the intravenous line used during the procedure and information about pentobarbital itself.
“It’s hard to know,” Chivot said. “She could have survived intact, she could have survived a series of injuries, including a brain injury, or she could have died in hospital. All of those things are possible.”
newsweek’s Reporters and editors used our artificial intelligence assistant Martyn to produce this story. Learn more about Martin here.
Please contact the Newsweek editor regarding this story: Steve Mollman and Gray R. Thomas