Tennessee execution team failed to secure IV for nearly an hour

Tennessee has suspended all scheduled executions while state officials review the protocol following a failed lethal injection attempt on Christa Pike on 30 September. The pause follows a detailed account filed by Pike's legal team that describes a nearly hour-long struggle to insert an intravenous line before the sedative was administered. The incident has drawn sharp criticism from medical specialists who reviewed the timeline of events.

Randy Spivey, Pike's attorney, submitted a chronology stating that four members of the IV team worked for almost 60 minutes to set up the line. During this period, the team used approximately 10 needles, repeatedly puncturing Pike's arms without securing a stable connection. Spivey's filing notes that team members expressed concern that her veins had blown. At 7:05 pm, a team member requested a 24-gauge needle and manipulated it extensively. Joel Zivot, a professor of anesthesiology who provided expert testimony, identified that gauge as typically used for infants. He stated there was no way to push the 50cc syringe required by protocol through such a small catheter without damaging the vein.

The team utilized ultrasound to locate a vein, a technique Jonathan Groner, an emeritus professor of clinical surgery at Ohio State University, said requires extensive specialist training. Groner noted that the team's handling of the equipment suggested a lack of proficiency. At 7:23 pm, saline was pushed through the line with difficulty. One minute later, at 7:24 pm, the team declared the IV ready and began the procedure. Groner argued that a clinician would not administer a caustic drug through a line that did not flush easily, calling the situation a flashing red light that was ignored.

Pike, who was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, survived the dose of pentobarbital. Following the procedure, she spent several days on a ventilator, and her lawyers believed she had suffered brain death. She returned to her prison cell after a 10-day hospital stay and can now talk and walk. Her long-term medical prognosis remains unclear. Zivot and Groner both cited a lack of leadership in the death chamber. They identified a poorly written protocol and the use of technology that may not have been authorized as major failures. Pike's lawyers had warned the state prior to the attempt that her veins were exceptionally small and compromised. The case has intensified scrutiny of lethal injection as the primary method of execution in the United States.

Groner described the event as a medical charade and emphasized that the procedure should result in death, not pain. Zivot added that the team continued when safety standards indicated they should have stopped. Both experts agreed that the conduct observed would be classified as malpractice in a standard medical setting. The state is now conducting a review of its execution procedures in light of these findings.