# Doctor who botched Christa Pike’s execution had not placed IV line since 2013: report

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/doctor-who-botched-christa-pikes-execution-had-not-placed-iv-line-since-2013-report/
- Published: 2026-11-05T03:26:54+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T04:24:23+00:00
- Original publisher: New York Post (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://nypost.com/2026/11/04/us-news/doctor-who-botched-christa-pikes-execution-had-not-placed-iv-line-since-2013-report/
- Topics: World

## Key points

- The physician overseeing both failed executions had not placed an IV since 2013.
- Carruthers’s execution was called off after staff failed to establish IV access.
- Pike survived two doses and spent 10 days in critical condition.

## Summary

Court documents say Tennessee’s lead physician for two failed lethal injections, Dr Mark Fowler, had not placed an IV line since 2013. His role in the executions of Tony Carruthers and Christa Pike has raised questions about the state’s choice of medical staff and the oversight of its execution procedures.

Fowler said in a deposition that he lacked hospital privileges to insert central lines. During Carruthers’s planned execution in May, the team spent more than an hour trying to establish IV access before the procedure was called off. In September, staff tried about 10 needles to place lines in Pike’s arms; investigators later found the lines had been improperly positioned, allowing the drug to seep into her tissue. Pike survived two doses, spent 10 days in critical condition in hospital, and was then returned to the prison’s medical ward.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.