Execution staff struggled to insert IV lines during Christa Pike attempt

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 23 Oct, 06:08 · Archive

Tennessee execution staff failed multiple times to establish working IV lines during Christa Pike's execution attempt in September.

Tennessee execution team members failed multiple times to establish working IV lines in Christa Pike's arms before her attempted execution on 30 September, according to a court document filed by her attorney Randy Spivey. The IV team used approximately ten needles and tried several sites on both arms, and struggled to push saline through the final IV site they established. Staff warned that some of Pike's veins may have ruptured, or 'blown', before she was injected with the lethal drug.

Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital during the execution attempt. State protocol calls for a second dose of pentobarbital if the first does not result in death, but does not specify what to do if a person survives the second injection. After the failed execution, Pike was hospitalised and placed on a ventilator for several days. Her attorneys initially did not expect her to survive. She ultimately regained consciousness and was discharged back to prison.

Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer when she was 18 years old. The failed execution has prompted renewed scrutiny of Tennessee's lethal injection procedures, with attorneys representing people on death row noting that the incident validates predictions about the likelihood of botched executions without substantial procedural changes.

Execution staff struggled to insert IV lines during Christa Pike attempt — Image: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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How it is being reported

Execution staff warned IV site might have ‘blown’ during Christa Pike’s execution attemptTennessee execution team members failed multiple times to establish working IV lines in Christa Pike’s arms before her attempted execution and warned that some of her veins may have ruptured, or “blown,” before she was injected with the lethal drug, her attorney wrote in a court document filed Thursday.TribLIVE · 23 Oct, 04:45
Staff worried IV site might have 'blown' during Christa Pike's execution attemptPittsburgh Post-Gazette · 22 Oct, 22:56

In this story: Christa Pike · Colleen Slemmer · Randy Spivey · Tennessee

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