Doctor overseeing Christa Pike’s botched execution had not inserted central IV line in 13 years
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: Fresh court filings have raised questions about the physician who oversaw Christa Pike's botched execution, revealing that Dr Mark Fowler had struggled with a similar procedure during another execution attempt just four months earlier.
Fowler was unable to insert a central IV line during the planned execution of Tony Carruthers in May, yet was later selected to oversee Pike's execution.
Dr Mark Fowler struggled during Tony Carruthers' execution
According to a court-filed declaration by American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorney Maria DeLiberto, Carruthers' execution was scheduled for May 21.
Around 30 minutes into the procedure, the IV team had still failed to establish the two peripheral IV sites required for the lethal injection.
Fowler and a three-person IV team spent more than an hour attempting the procedure before officials eventually called off the execution.
DeLiberto's declaration, obtained by PEOPLE, said Fowler was called in to assist. He attempted to insert a central line at two locations, but neither attempt was successful.
The Tennessee Department of Correction's (TDOC) Lethal Injection Execution Protocol assigns physicians responsibility for "determining if the inmate is deceased" and "establishing central line IV if necessary."
DeLiberto later described Carruthers as "clearly in pain" and "gutturally groaning" during the failed execution attempt. She recalled him saying: "It hurts, it hurts."
Doctor lacked central IV experience since 2013
A 2025 deposition obtained by PEOPLE revealed that Fowler had not performed a central IV line procedure since 2013.
He also said he no longer had hospital privileges or permission to insert central IV lines at any medical facility.
A declaration filed by Dr Gail A Van Norman, Professor Emeritus of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Washington, questioned whether Fowler had the necessary experience and training.
Based on his deposition, Norman said "he does not have the current experience or training that would be required to obtain or retain privileges to place central lines at many, if not most, major healthcare institutions today."
She also described the method Fowler reportedly used during the Carruthers execution attempt as a "violation of the current standard of care."
Christa Pike's botched execution sparks fresh scrutiny
Despite the failed procedure involving Carruthers in May, Fowler was selected to oversee Christa Pike's execution four months later.
Fowler would later say Pike's botched execution was caused by an improperly placed IV, which sent the pentobarbital intended to kill her into the surrounding tissue rather than her vein.
The latest revelations have renewed questions about Tennessee's execution procedures and the decision to appoint Fowler despite his earlier difficulties.
Kit Thomas, Deputy Chief of the Capital Habeas Unit for the Federal Public Defender's Office in the Middle District of Tennessee, called for an investigation into the state's practices.
"The investigation into why Tennessee keeps botching executions should have been launched in May when TDOC subjected Tony Carruthers to more than an hour of pain and suffering before his execution had to be called off," Thomas said.
"Christa Pike's botched execution happened after state officials ignored our warnings about their flawed protocol”, he added.
"These problems will keep happening until Tennessee takes meaningful steps to increase transparency, oversight, and accountability in the execution process. Executions must not resume until it does," Thomas continued.
