ER doctor: George Floyd's cause of death was most likely oxygen deprivation
05 April 2021
The Minneapolis doctor who attended to George Floyd testified Monday that it's more likely Floyd died of loss or deprivation of oxygen than of a heart attack or drug overdose.
Why it matters: Opening the second week of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s trial, the doctor's testimony challenges the defense's argument that Floyd suffered a heart attack related to the influence of drugs — and not as a result of Chauvin's use of force.
- Floyd died after Chauvin kneeled on his neck for over nine minutes, failing to let up even as Floyd said "I can't breathe" over 20 times.
What he's saying: ER physician Bradford Langenfeld declared Floyd dead after 30 minutes of working to revive him, confirming paramedics' testimonies last week that Floyd had no pulse upon arrival at the hospital.
- Immediate CPR could have increased his chance of survival, but Langenfeld received no reports of CPR performed on the scene, he said. For every minute CPR is not administered, he added, the chance of survival drops approximately 10% to 15%.
- The most common causes of the type of sudden cardiac arrest Floyd suffered are blood loss and oxygen deprivation, he told prosecutors, making asphyxia a likely contributor to Floyd's death.
- Floyd also didn’t show specific symptoms that would be common after a heart attack or signs of drug toxins in his system, Langenfeld testified. He did note the markings on Floyd’s wrist and said he "inferred" they were from handcuffs.
- There was no suggestion that Floyd had overdosed on any specific medication or toxin for which there is an antidote, Langenfeld added.
Flashback: The two pandemics who transported Floyd to the hospital testified last week that they thought Floyd was essentially dead when they arrived at the scene.
- One said he saw multiple officers "on top of" Floyd while the other called the scene an unwelcoming environment.
Go deeper:
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.