Tennessee's lethal injection of Christa Pike failed on October 5, 2026, and she survived, unconscious on a ventilator, after the Supreme Court cleared the execution on October 1. She is now off the ventilator, speaking and alert, with no memory of the attempts, and has sued Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. A judge has ordered all evidence preserved. The discussion has moved to the mechanics: the IV took 45 minutes, the pentobarbital went into tissue rather than a vein, and the first 911 caller reported ten grams given and the person not yet deceased. The Department of Correction says it followed every step of its protocol, which allowed a central line only if the initial IV failed before injection began.