NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The sister of a Tennessee man on death row has filed a formal complaint against the physician who participated in a failed execution attempt earlier this year, accusing him of multiple ethics violations.
Tonya Hervey submitted the complaint Wednesday to the Tennessee Department of Health, alleging that her brother, Tony Carruthers, endured severe pain during the May 21 lethal injection attempt. The family also believes Carruthers has since developed partial paralysis, which they attribute to a stroke — though the complaint does not specify when or how they believe the stroke took place. Hervey declined to speak with reporters.
According to accounts of the attempted execution, the IV team successfully placed a primary line immediately, but then spent more than an hour struggling to insert a backup line. Maria DeLiberato, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who represents Carruthers and witnessed the procedure, said the team made attempts in Carruthers’ arm, hand, and foot before Dr. Mark Fowler stepped in to try inserting a central line.
Gov. Bill Lee ultimately halted the execution and granted Carruthers a one-year reprieve.
The complaint against Fowler outlines several alleged violations of medical ethics: participating in an execution at all; administering the anesthetic lidocaine to Carruthers without first confirming he had no allergy to it; and pressing forward with the procedure despite what was described as Carruthers’ “visible agony and distress.” The complaint further alleges Fowler was not qualified to place a central line, having not performed one in more than ten years.
When contacted by phone, Fowler declined to respond to the allegations.
Dr. Ervin Yen, a retired cardiac anesthesiologist who has observed numerous executions in Oklahoma and had no involvement in the Carruthers case, offered a different perspective. He said the fact that Fowler had not placed a central line in years does not automatically disqualify him, and added that it is highly unlikely the IV attempts could have caused a stroke.
The Tennessee Department of Correction refused to address the allegations. The Health Department noted that all complaint and investigation information remains confidential unless and until formal charges are brought — including whether any investigation has even begun.
Carruthers, 58, was convicted in the 1994 kidnapping and murders of Marcellos Anderson, Anderson’s mother Delois Anderson, and Frederick Tucker. Prosecutors said Marcellos Anderson was involved in drug dealing and that Carruthers sought to take control of the illegal trade in their Memphis neighborhood.
Carruthers has consistently maintained that he is innocent. He represented himself at trial after repeatedly objecting to his court-appointed attorneys and making threats against several of them.
