Doctor explains why Christa Pike may not be executed again as he reveals why the failure was 'predictable'

On September 30, Christa Pike became the first person to ever survive two lethal injections. Now, one doctor says she may not be able to be executed at all.

After being injected with two doses of pentobarbital, journalists inside the execution chamber reportedly heard the 50-year-old 'snoring loudly' for up to 40 minutes.

She was then taken to hospital to receive life-saving care. On Friday, October 2, her lawyers issued an update via filed court documents, which confirmed she is currently on a ventilator.

A statement from her attorneys, seen by seen by NBC News, read: “Christa remains critically ill and is receiving medical care for the devastating effects of Wednesday night’s events. She is critically ill, unconscious, intubated and receiving breathing assistance through a ventilator.”

However, a doctor says that the severity of her injuries could leave the state of Tennessee unable to execute her again legally.

Pike is currently in hospital (Christa Pike's lawyers)

Speaking to The Sun, Dr. Joel Zivot, who is an outspoken critic of capital punishment and Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine said: “Placing an intravenous catheter is a specific technical skill that is practised by people in healthcare. It’s not something that translates into the execution chamber."

Here, the expert explained that doctors and doctors and nurses abstain from being involved in capital punishment, and therefore, the insertion of the intravenous catheter (IV) is performed by 'untrained non-medical staff' who 'work under immense pressure'.

According to the court filing, Pike is being treated for 'the serious effects of the pentobarbital administered during the execution attempt, including significant injuries to both arms.'

Dr Zivot also explained to the outlet that an inmate can be 'too sick to be executed.'

“So if Christa Pike’s health should be such a thing that it can never be restored to some degree, then she may not face [execution] again," he added, explaining that 'it becomes the duty of the state to restore the prisoner to health,' should an execution go wrong.

Pike would have been the first woman to have been executed in Tennessee for 200 years (Tennessee Department of Correction)

However, the Tennessee Department of Correction has insisted that they did everything correctly.

In a statement, they claimed: "The Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the State's lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General's Office.

"The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening. Christa Pike has been transported to an off-site medical facility."

Pike spent the best part of three decades on death row, after she was convicted of the murder of student, Colleen Slemmer.

She was 18 years old at the time of the murder. Her boyfriend at the time, Tadaryl Shipp was also convicted. However, as he was 17 years old, he was not given the death sentence.

If her execution had been successful, Pike would have been the first woman in 200 years to be executed on Tennessee's death row.