US Inmate Leaves Hospital After Failed Execution

The United States (US) death row inmate who survived a failed lethal injection in Tennessee has been discharged from the hospital and returned to prison, according to the Associated Press.

Christa Pike was transferred to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Centre, the women’s prison where she has been held for 30 years; her attorneys confirmed the transfer in a statement on Saturday.

“She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances. She is continuing to receive medical care at the prison, and we will continue to track her recovery,” the statement said.

Pike had been in hospital since September 30, when Tennessee officials attempted to execute her by lethal injection. She was sentenced to death for the 1995 beating and stabbing of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer. During the execution attempt, officials administered two doses of pentobarbital, the drug used in the procedure.

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However, Pike survived and was placed on a ventilator at one point, and her attorneys feared she would not recover. She later regained consciousness and began talking and walking with assistance. The Death Penalty Information Centre said Pike was the first known person to survive after receiving lethal injection drugs during an execution.

Tennessee officials have not explained what went wrong. However, medical and lethal injection experts have examined whether incorrectly placed intravenous (IV) lines prevented the drug from entering Pike’s bloodstream as intended.

In a court filing, Pike’s attorneys said, “Apparently, at no point did any member of the execution team realise that the IV lines were not correctly placed.” The failed execution has raised new questions about Tennessee’s execution procedures.

Governor Bill Lee postponed the state’s only other scheduled execution this year and ordered a review of the incident. The state’s prison chief also resigned following the failed execution. Pike’s case has drawn renewed attention to the procedures used in lethal injections and the oversight of executions in the United States.

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Deborah Akwa

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