{"id":384971,"date":"2026-10-05T22:00:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T21:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/why-is-america-running-out-of-execution-drugs-the-global-story-podcast\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T22:00:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T21:00:24","slug":"why-is-america-running-out-of-execution-drugs-the-global-story-podcast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/why-is-america-running-out-of-execution-drugs-the-global-story-podcast\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is America running out of execution drugs? | The Global Story podcast"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.ytimg.com\/vi\/pITzKrjAuls\/hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Why is America running out of execution drugs? | The Global Story podcast\"><br \/> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pITzKrjAuls\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p>Last week, Tennessee attempted to carry out the execution of Christa Pike, a convicted murderer who had spent three decades on death row. But the execution did not go as planned: After she was injected with two lethal doses of pentobarbital, Pike remained alive. She was then taken to hospital by ambulance.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t the first time an American execution hasn\u2019t gone as planned. One reason is that the drugs needed for lethal injection have become increasingly difficult for US prison officials to obtain. Pharmaceutical companies don\u2019t want their medicines used in executions \u2014 particularly manufacturers in Europe, where governments have opposed the death penalty for decades.<\/p>\n<p>So, without access to regulated drugs, American prisons have had to improvise \u2014 sometimes with horrifying results.<\/p>\n<p>The Global Story\u2019s Tristan Redman speaks with investigative reporter Livvy Haydock about the consequences when the pharmaceutical supply chain refuses to feed the machinery of American executions.<\/p>\n<p>Listen to Livvy\u2019s podcast, Killing Death Row: https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sounds\/brand\/m001rjdp <\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to our channel here: https:\/\/bbc.in\/bbcnews<\/p>\n<p>For the latest news download the BBC News app or visit BBC.com\/news<\/p>\n<p>00:00 Introduction<br \/>\n00:38 How a lethal injection is supposed to work<br \/>\n05:05 What went wrong in Christa Pike\u2019s execution<br \/>\n07:16 Why America is struggling to get execution drugs<br \/>\n09:00 The drugs used in lethal injections<br \/>\n10:15 Why European drugmakers stopped supplying the US<br \/>\n12:38 America\u2019s secret hunt for execution drugs<br \/>\n14:47 What happens when execution drugs expire<br \/>\n15:07 The London chemist supplying America<br \/>\n16:58 How the drug shortage can cause botched executions<br \/>\n17:30 Are lethal injections causing suffering?<br \/>\n19:05 Why the US can\u2019t simply make its own execution drugs<br \/>\n21:21 Could prisons start making their own drugs?<br \/>\n21:46 Why Europe rejects the death penalty<br \/>\n22:32 Why Americans still support executions<br \/>\n23:17 When executions fail victims\u2019 families<\/p>\n<p>#ChristaPike #Deathrow #Tennessee #BBCNews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, Tennessee attempted to carry out the execution of Christa Pike, a convicted murderer who had spent three decades on death row. But the execution did not go as planned: After she was injected with two lethal doses of pentobarbital, Pike remained alive. She was then taken to hospital by ambulance. This isn\u2019t the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":384972,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[128810],"tags":[],"actors":[],"class_list":["post-384971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bbc-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why is America running out of execution drugs? | The Global Story podcast | News ISC Videos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Watch Why is America running out of execution drugs? | The Global Story podcast for free, here on News ISC. 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