You might have seen the news that Christa Pike, a convicted murderer in Tennessee, did not die from the injections given to her as part of her death penalty sentence last week. After her failed execution, she was hospitalized, where she continues to receive critical medical care, according to her attorneys. Her survival is singular, but her mishandled execution is not. A review of executions carried out between 1890 and 2010 indicated that three out of every hundred executions were botched – and that lethal injection executions, which began in 1982, have a more frequent incidence of complications than any other method. All of this has re-raised the question of how humane lethal injections are as a form of execution. So, today on the show, we speak to anesthesiologist <a href="https://www.uwmedicine.org/bios/gail-van-norman"target="_blank" >Gail Van Norman</a>, a medical expert who testified about Christa’s case and many other lethal injection executions. She told us how she and other experts predicted much of how Christa's execution would unfold. Read a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/10/06/nx-s1-5991669/failed-execution-christa-pike-tennessee-reporter-witness"target="_blank" >perspective piece</a> from one of the seven media witnesses to last week's failed execution. Interested in more science and criminal justice stories? Email us your question at <a href="mailto:shortwave@npr.org"target="_blank" >shortwave@npr.org</a>.   Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at <a href="http://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org</a>. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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