From the left, Rob Quinn and John Greer, both doctors, are part of a group of about 40 medical professionals called for a pause to Tennessee’s executions on Tuesday July 28, 2026 in Nashville Tenn. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

Yesterday, Tennessee medical professionals held a press conference in Nashville, urging Governor Lee to pause executions so the State can review and make meaningful changes to its problematic lethal injection protocol. Medical professionals are the latest in a chorus of voices, including Republican lawmakers, faith leaders, and a former Tennessee Correctional officer, asking Governor Lee to intervene.

“Yet another group is calling for a death penalty moratorium after the failed execution of Tony Carruthers in May. This time, it’s doctors and nurses.”  WPLN Reporter Catherine Sweeney.

A letter signed by nearly 50 Tennessee medical professionals was also sent to the governor’s office. The letter says in part: “The horrifyingly botched attempt to execute Tony Carruthers on May 21 confirmed that TDOC is not presently able to conduct an execution that complies with the law, its own protocol, or basic human decency.”

The letter from the Medical Professionals can be found here.

Among concerns raised at the press conference is the training and experience needed by a physician in order to establish a central line. This procedure is required by the state’s exe­cu­tion pro­to­col if a back-up line cannot be established. The participating physician in the botched, near execution of Tony Carruthers admitted in a deposition that he had not placed a central line in over a decade. He then failed in his attempt to establish one for Mr. Carruthers, and the execution was finally stopped after 90 minutes.

An additional concern raised by the doctors is the participation of a physician in an execution at all. Such participation requires physicians to set aside their ethical obligations, contradicting their Hippocratic Oath and American Medical Association directives.

Today attorneys for Darrell Hines asked Governor Lee either to grant Mr. Hines a reprieve or commute his death sentence ahead of his August 13 execution date. His attorneys note that the TDOC failed to follow its own protocol in the failed execution of Tony Carruthers and that Mr. Hines’s debilitated medical condition following a series of strokes makes it even more likely that the execution team will struggle to obtain IV access and will have to insert another central line.

TAKE ACTION: Ask Governor Lee to grant Mr. Hines a reprieve so the State can review and address the problems with Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol before another person is executed.

If you have already signed the letter, share it with five other people and ask them to sign on!