The doctor who participated in Christa Pike's failed execution in Tennessee says an improperly placed IV sent lethal drugs into the tissue of her arms instead of her bloodstream — and acknowledged the execution team should have stopped when the death row inmate complained of pain.
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inmate → participate → pain
Dr. Mark Fowler, who served as the physician during Pike's Sept. 30 execution attempt, offered a rare firsthand account of what went wrong in an interview with New York Magazine published Friday.
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what → serve → Magazine
Pike, 50, survived after receiving two doses of pentobarbital and was hospitalized for days before eventually regaining consciousness.
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Pike → survive → consciousness
The doctor told the magazine he knew something was wrong when Pike's execution stretched to about 45 minutes.
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execution → tell → minutes
When he was called into the chamber, she was still alive and gasping for air.
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she → call → air
Fowler said he initially considered whether Pike's response to the medication could simply be taking longer than expected and decided to give it more time.
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response → say → time
As another half-hour passed, he became concerned that Pike could survive with irreversible brain damage.
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Pike → pass → damage
Fowler later diagnosed her as comatose before a deputy commissioner ordered the execution stopped.
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execution → diagnose → her
He then ordered oxygen, and Pike was taken by ambulance to Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
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Pike → order → Center
Fowler told New York Magazine that the IV used to administer the pentobarbital had not been properly inserted into Pike's veins.
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IV → tell → veins
"It was delivering medicine to the subcutaneous tissue" of her arms, Fowler said.
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Fowler → deliver → arms
Pike's attorneys previously said in a court filing that she complained of severe arm pain during the execution, telling those in the chamber, "My arm feels like it’s about to burst open.
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it → say → chamber
"
"They should have stopped and reassessed, and they didn’t," Fowler told New York Magazine.
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Fowler → stop → Magazine
The account comes days after Pike described the aftermath of the failed execution in a statement released by her attorneys, saying she remains in constant pain and still struggles to speak.
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she → come → pain
"My body hurts.
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body → hurt → ?
My arms hurt.
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arms → hurt → ?
My hands hurt.
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hands → hurt → ?
My throat hurts," Pike said Friday.
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Pike → hurt → ?
"I still struggle to speak."
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I → struggle → ?
Pike also said she was "deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position."
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that → say → position
Fowler's role in Pike's failed execution was not his first to draw scrutiny.
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role → fail → scrutiny
New York Magazine reported that Fowler was also involved in the 2025 execution of Byron Black and the failed May execution of Tony Carruthers.
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Fowler → report → Carruthers
In the Carruthers case, Fowler attempted to place an IV near Carruthers' clavicle after paramedics were unable to establish traditional IV access.
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paramedics → attempt → access
Fowler told the magazine he ultimately stopped because he lacked adequate anesthetic and the procedure was becoming too painful for Carruthers.
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procedure → tell → Carruthers
I'm not uncaring, and I'm not incompetent," Fowler said.
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Fowler → say → ?
Still, Fowler said Tennessee's lethal-injection protocol needs to change.
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protocol → say → ?
He called for fewer handoffs among execution team members and said those responsible for placing IV lines should remain in position to monitor them as the lethal drugs are administered.
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drugs → call → them
"The people who place the IV lines should thereafter be observant about what’s happening with them as the medicine goes in," Fowler said.
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Fowler → place → them
Following the failed execution, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee halted the state's remaining executions for the year and ordered an independent review of what went wrong.
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what → follow → review
Lee said last week that Pike remains incarcerated under state law and signaled that her death sentence is unlikely to change.
"I suspect her sentence will be the same as it was before unless determined otherwise by the courts," Lee said.
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Lee → say → courts
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow participant in a federal Job Corps program in Knoxville.
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Pike → sentence → Knoxville
Pike's attorneys have called on Lee to commute her death sentence to life without parole.
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attorneys → call → parole
Fox News Digital has reached out to Fowler and the Tennessee Department of Correction seeking additional comment and an interview but has not received a response.
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Digital → reach → response
The Aporia
