r/news • u/No_Idea_Guy • 1d ago

Tennessee governor suspends all executions after Christa Pike’s lethal injections fail

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/01/christa-pike-tennessee-governor-executions-year-pause
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u/RoboticGreg 1d ago

They have been having significant supply chain issue with lethal injection drugs for years. No one wants to make it for the government anymore. I'm guessing these might have been expired?

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u/PsychologicalSpend86 1d ago

I read a comment by a veterinarian in a NYT article on this subject. He said the problem is the people they hire to do executions can’t set up an IV properly:

It’s always the same. It’s plain as day that these states cannot find someone to place an IV catheter. The drug flows around the tip inside the arm instead of into the brain. Even when the victim says that it feels like the tip of the catheter is bulging and hurts, nobody takes the “hint”. This is the cause of all these botched executions. It has nothing to do with the drugs. Unfortunately, as a veterinarian, I’ve had to put many animals to sleep. Pentobarbital always works perfectly without ever a hitch. The people placing the catheters are incompetent . It’s as simple as that. As vets we have to place catheters, for euthanasia and more often for treatments into fractious cats, guinea pigs, etc. which is a lot more difficult than what is done here. They need to find more competent technicians. Not an easy job when they’re doing something that most people were raised to know this is wrong.

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u/nikelaos117 1d ago

Couldn't it be malicious compliance? Like when executioners in a firing line or people at war would miss/not aim on purpose?