An extraordinary incident occurred in the United States in which a death row inmate survived after being administered execution drugs twice.
According to AP and other outlets on the 1st, local time, the Tennessee Department of Corrections administered lethal drugs twice to Krista Pike, 50 years old, who had been sentenced to death for murder, on the 30th of last month, but the execution failed.
According to journalists who witnessed the scene, Pike continued breathing after receiving the drugs and made noises resembling snoring for about an hour. The execution was eventually halted, and Pike was transported to a hospital by ambulance. Pike's attorneys said she is currently receiving treatment in critical condition.
◇The execution drug pentobarbital suppresses breathing
Pike was administered pentobarbital, a drug used in executions, that day. Pentobarbital is a barbiturate central nervous system depressant that reduces activity in the brain and nerves. It was formerly used to treat insomnia and for sedation, and some U.S. states currently use it in executions.
Pentobarbital enhances the effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, a neurotransmitter that suppresses nerve activity in the brain. This can cause drowsiness or sedation, and large doses can significantly reduce consciousness. In particular, an overdose can suppress brain functions that regulate breathing, causing breathing to slow or stop. Blood pressure may also fall, and in severe cases, the drug can lead to coma or death.
◇“The drug may have leaked”... Exact cause under investigation
The exact reason Pike survived after receiving the execution drug twice has not yet been determined. However, the possibility has been raised that the drug did not properly enter the bloodstream through a vein.
Steve Ferrell, an attorney for Pike, said that Pike has a blood disorder and has experienced difficulty having needles inserted into her veins during blood draws throughout her life. He therefore suggested that the intravenous needle may not have been properly inserted into a blood vessel during the execution, causing the drug to spread into the tissue of her arm rather than entering the bloodstream.
The phenomenon in which an injection needle leaves a blood vessel during an intravenous procedure or medication leaks into surrounding tissue is called extravasation. Because intravenous injections deliver drugs directly into the bloodstream, a drug's effects may manifest differently if it leaks outside the blood vessel. In fact, a systematic review published in the 2024 international journal European Journal of Anaesthesiology found that when neuromuscular blocking agents that are supposed to be administered intravenously leak outside a blood vessel, the drugs may be absorbed slowly by surrounding tissue, delaying the onset of their effects and making their action difficult to predict. Tennessee authorities are conducting an independent investigation into the entire execution process to determine the exact cause.
Meanwhile, if the execution had taken place as scheduled, Pike would have become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.
According to AP and other outlets on the 1st, local time, the Tennessee Department of Corrections administered lethal drugs twice to Krista Pike, 50 years old, who had been sentenced to death for murder, on the 30th of last month, but the execution failed.
According to journalists who witnessed the scene, Pike continued breathing after receiving the drugs and made noises resembling snoring for about an hour. The execution was eventually halted, and Pike was transported to a hospital by ambulance. Pike's attorneys said she is currently receiving treatment in critical condition.
◇The execution drug pentobarbital suppresses breathing
Pike was administered pentobarbital, a drug used in executions, that day. Pentobarbital is a barbiturate central nervous system depressant that reduces activity in the brain and nerves. It was formerly used to treat insomnia and for sedation, and some U.S. states currently use it in executions.
Pentobarbital enhances the effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, a neurotransmitter that suppresses nerve activity in the brain. This can cause drowsiness or sedation, and large doses can significantly reduce consciousness. In particular, an overdose can suppress brain functions that regulate breathing, causing breathing to slow or stop. Blood pressure may also fall, and in severe cases, the drug can lead to coma or death.
◇“The drug may have leaked”... Exact cause under investigation
The exact reason Pike survived after receiving the execution drug twice has not yet been determined. However, the possibility has been raised that the drug did not properly enter the bloodstream through a vein.
Steve Ferrell, an attorney for Pike, said that Pike has a blood disorder and has experienced difficulty having needles inserted into her veins during blood draws throughout her life. He therefore suggested that the intravenous needle may not have been properly inserted into a blood vessel during the execution, causing the drug to spread into the tissue of her arm rather than entering the bloodstream.
The phenomenon in which an injection needle leaves a blood vessel during an intravenous procedure or medication leaks into surrounding tissue is called extravasation. Because intravenous injections deliver drugs directly into the bloodstream, a drug's effects may manifest differently if it leaks outside the blood vessel. In fact, a systematic review published in the 2024 international journal European Journal of Anaesthesiology found that when neuromuscular blocking agents that are supposed to be administered intravenously leak outside a blood vessel, the drugs may be absorbed slowly by surrounding tissue, delaying the onset of their effects and making their action difficult to predict. Tennessee authorities are conducting an independent investigation into the entire execution process to determine the exact cause.
Meanwhile, if the execution had taken place as scheduled, Pike would have become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.