Christa Pike, a 50-year-old Tennessee death row inmate, has done something no one in American history has ever done before. She survived a lethal injection execution, and medical experts are now trying to explain how that was even possible.
The failed execution took place on September 30 when Tennessee officials attempted to make Pike the first woman put to death in the state in two centuries. She received two separate doses of pentobarbital, the powerful barbiturate used in executions, yet she regained consciousness and was reportedly speaking within a week of the attempt.
Her attorneys described her survival as “medically unprecedented” and said she faces a long road to recovery. She was placed on a ventilator after being rushed by ambulance to a hospital and has since developed pneumonia and lost function in her arms.
Medical experts point to several possible explanations for how she survived. Dr. Jonathan Groner, a retired pediatric surgeon at Ohio State University who has studied lethal injections, said the most likely cause is that very little of the drug actually entered her bloodstream. He said the IV may have been improperly placed, or Pike’s veins may have ruptured and allowed the drug to seep into surrounding tissue instead of circulating through her body.
Pike’s lawyers said she was stuck with needles at least seven times before the execution began and that she has a blood disorder that makes intravenous access extremely difficult. The drug quality itself is also under scrutiny since Tennessee does not disclose where it sources its execution drugs. Pharmacist and lethal injection consultant Michaela Almgren said the secrecy surrounding drug sourcing makes it nearly impossible to verify whether the pentobarbital was properly prepared or administered.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Pike is the only person known to have survived after receiving lethal injection drugs during an actual execution attempt. Tennessee officials have launched an investigation into what went wrong and state protocol does not address what to do if an inmate survives both doses.
When Pike arrived at the hospital, doctors likely worked to stabilize her breathing and flush the drug from her system according to Dr. Michael Baden, the former chief medical examiner of New York City. He said muscle damage from the drug leaking into tissue near the injection site was also a likely complication. Pike’s attorneys say her arms were left burned and blistered from the failed procedure.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has since paused all executions in the state and ordered an independent third-party review of the incident.