Doctors working to save Christa Pike's life
Tennessee tried to kill Christa Pike on Sept. 30. Now, doctors are working to save her life.
A hospital must take affirmative action to restore the health of a death row inmate after a failed execution attempt, according to a legal expert and hospital official.
Pike was scheduled to be killed by lethal injection on Sept. 30 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.But the procedure was unsuccessful and Pike was sent to an unknown hospital.
“She is a patient like any other and a hospital would have a legal obligation to treat her and (attempt) to keep her from enduring any pain and restore her to health,” Nashville attorney David Raybin said. “She was sentenced to be executed by the State of Tennessee. The hospital is not bound by that order. They can’t facilitate her death.
“Because the state (sent) her to the hospital. Once they did that, the state has said ‘we want this woman to receive medical care.’”
Vanderbilt University Medical Center spokesperson John Howser confirmed a hospital would work to treat and restore the health of a person following an unsuccessful execution attempt, but didn’t elaborate.