ATLANTA — A failed execution in Tennessee is raising new questions about lethal injection protocols — including in Georgia, where lethal injection remains the state’s only currently used method of execution.
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Christa Pike remains in critical condition after Tennessee officials administered two doses of pentobarbital during an attempted execution that did not result in her death.
An Atlanta anesthesiology professor says he warned Tennessee officials before the execution that Pike’s medical history could create complications with the lethal injection process.
Dr. Joel Zivot says Pike’s blood-clotting disorder and history of difficult IV access raised concerns about whether the execution drugs could be properly administered.
“I was not shocked,” Zivot said of what happened.
Zivot believes the pentobarbital may have entered the tissue surrounding Pike’s vein instead of going directly into her bloodstream.
“So when the chemical was injected, instead of going into the circulation, it ended up as a quantity directly into the tissue in her arm. And this caused a significant burn,” Zivot said.
Media witnesses at the execution reported hearing Pike say that an area was burning and hurting and ask whether that was normal.
Zivot also believes Pike may have suffered a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen during the attempted execution.
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What does this mean for Georgia?
Georgia uses the lethal injection method like Tennessee.
The Georgia Department of Corrections tells Channel 2 Action News it continuously reviews its lethal injection process and is confident in its protocols and medical teams.
Georgia’s execution protocol allows for additional doses of the execution drug if a person does not die after the first dose. However, the protocol does not specify a procedure for resuscitating someone after failed execution attempts.
That is raising questions about what would happen if a lethal injection in Georgia did not go as planned.
Randall Savage, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who retired from WMAZ-TV in Macon, has witnessed five lethal injections in Georgia as a media witness since 2014. Savage says he’s not aware of any complications during the five lethal injection executions he witnessed.
“I’d say within 10 minutes, they were pronounced dead,” Savage said.
Zivot says the Tennessee case highlights potential complications with lethal injection that states must consider.
“I would say that what she underwent was painful,” Zivot said. “And because we knew that it could happen, the state knew and they let it go anyway, that to me is a definition of cruelty.”
Tennessee has halted executions for the rest of the year, and the Tennessee governor has called for an independent review into Pike’s case. So far, there’s no word on if other states may halt lethal injections in response.
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