After Failed Execution, Health Workers Say State’s Rules Flout Medical Ethics By Catherine Sweeney, WPLN Sept. 29, 2026

https://kffhealthnews.org/health-industry/death-penalty-lethal-injection-execution-doctors-tennessee-carruthers-christa-pike/?utm_campaign=KHN%3A%20First%20Edition&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--OSoPucaoX76yRctv155uwOQw4sj36BClFfcxozwLLTVDM5zwgJi7C0LKrmMiGuMYMLoto-0X1hXZmfaGsWweUXHYCpQ&_hsmi=441541568&utm_content=441541568&utm_source=hs_email KFF Health News: After Failed Execution, Health Workers Say State’s Rules Flout Medical Ethics In May, a group of healthcare workers spent about an hour trying to establish complete IV access so they could inject Tony Carruthers, an inmate at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee, with a lethal dose of sedative. Maria DeLiberato, an attorney for Carruthers, was in the room. She said the workers stuck his arms and feet with needles, to no avail. A doctor then tried to insert a central line through his collarbone and shoulder. That didn’t work, either. (Sweeney, 9/29)