In recent years, states have found some drugs needed for lethal injections harder to come by, because pharmaceutical companies have opposed the use of their products for such purposes.

The Tennessee Department of Correction has not specifically addressed an allegation from Pike’s legal team that the pentobarbital it used was “degraded”. Drugs may degrade for a number of reasons, including if it has aged beyond its use-by date and its potency has decreased.

The department issued a broader defence of its method, writing in a statement: “The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective.”

Some manufacturers have explicitly said they will no longer produce pentobarbital or will restrict their use in executions, according to Alexis Hoag-Fordjor, Co-Director of the Center for Criminal Justice at Brooklyn Law School.

In 2024, for instance, the manufacturer Absolute Standards said it would no longer make the drug., external

“It’s unclear, the quality and the effectiveness of the drug” used in Pike’s execution, Hoag-Fordjor told the BBC, given how difficult it has been for states like Tennessee to obtain pentobarbital. “It shouldn’t be a surprise something went wrong.”

The predicament Tennessee authorities found themselves in – having to call emergency medical services to save Pike after trying to kill her – suggested there was “no plan in place” for a scenario like Pike’s, Hoag-Fordjor said.

“It’s just such a bizarre reality to continue with capital punishment.”