Foto: BB.LV / Криста Пайк
**Could it be that the killer was insensitive to the lethal drug?** It not only depresses consciousness but also shuts down the respiratory center in the brainstem. This directly causes death. The usual dose of pentobarbital for execution, used in the United States, is 5 grams, which is many times more than its therapeutic doses (the drug is used in medicine, but not very often). The criminal was given a full 10 grams, which far exceeds the lethal threshold for any human body. Given the administered dose of pentobarbital, experts immediately dismissed the assumption of any special resistance this woman might have to such drugs. In support of this, Dr. Jonathan I. Groner, a pediatric surgeon from the Ohio State University College of Medicine, who has specifically studied lethal injections, told the Associated Press that the 5-gram dose of pentobarbital used in executions far exceeds the dose that should put a person into a coma. He added, “The fact that she woke up indicates that very little of the drug entered her system. This is quite shocking and indicates how poorly the executioners carried out the execution.” **Why There Was No Overdose** The idea that the drug simply did not reach the killer's brain in the necessary amount is now the dominant and even obvious one. Although the dose was not small (her consciousness did shut down), it turned out to be less than lethal, insufficient to stop the respiratory center. Experts believe this can be explained by two versions. Some experts believe that the lethal drug was of poor quality or expired. Therefore, the actual dose administered to the killer was less than calculated. This seems very plausible, as drugs for executions are not produced by “big pharma” or pharmaceutical companies in general; they are literally made “on the fly.” State authorities secretly hire small, semi-legal private laboratories that often mix chemicals by hand. They operate in a “gray area,” and states legislatively conceal their names under the pretext of commercial confidentiality. The quality and concentration of such lethal injections are not checked by anyone. Even now, the authorities in Tennessee, where Krista Pike was executed, do not disclose information about the supplier of pentobarbital, although they have initiated an official investigation into this botched execution. **The Second Version** So this version seems possible, but there are more concrete facts supporting the second one. The aforementioned Dr. Groner stated that either the intravenous catheter was improperly placed, or Pike's veins could have been weak and ruptured, causing the drug to seep into the surrounding tissues instead of entering the bloodstream and circulating through the body. And this seems to be true. Catheters for executions are not placed by medical professionals but by poorly and formally trained prison staff. They do this poorly, and sometimes they cannot even manage to find a vein after multiple attempts. This was the case just recently in May when Tennessee experienced its first botched execution. The man could not have a catheter placed in a vein, and it had to be canceled. **Bleach Was Sent Through the Veins** By the way, the story with Pike was similar. Her lawyers reported that the team handling the execution tried at least seven needles in an attempt to find a vein suitable for administering the lethal drug. In an interview with the BBC, Dr. Joel Zivot, a professor of anesthesiology and surgery from Atlanta, who consulted Pike's legal team as an expert, also suggested that the drug did not enter the bloodstream and spread under the skin of the victim's arm. His comments included additional and important details: “Most of the pentobarbital did not circulate through the vessels in her body but remained in her arm, which is why she survived. She (Krista Pike) has thin veins, and they can be quite fragile. If a large amount of caustic substance is injected into such a small vein under pressure, it will rupture.” He also added, “Essentially, a bleach-like substance was injected into the tissues of her arm.” The fact is that pentobarbital is very aggressive to tissues; it has a strongly alkaline reaction, and its pH level is similar to that of household cleaning agents and bleaches. Therefore, when it enters tissues, it causes chemical burns and subsequently tissue death (necrosis). To avoid this, the drug must be delivered directly into the bloodstream, quickly dissolving in it. All these features are confirmed both during and after the execution. Pike complained of burning and pain in her arm at the injection site. After discharge, her arm did not fully recover; it was swollen, blistered, and all these were the consequences of burns sustained during the administration of pentobarbital. So, there is no miracle in the botched execution of Krista Pike; it is all, as always, about the “human factor.”
