An emergency room doctor who tried to save George Floyd’s life for 30 minutes before pronouncing him dead testified on Monday that he believed Mr. Floyd had most likely died of a lack of oxygen, bolstering a central argument of the prosecution.
Dr. Bradford T. Wankhede Langenfeld, who was a senior resident at the Hennepin County Medical Center, testified in court that Mr. Floyd’s heart was not beating by the time he arrived at the hospital on that day in May. His testimony followed those of two paramedics who said last week that Mr. Floyd’s heart had stopped by the time they arrived to the scene of his arrest. The doctor’s testimony came on the sixth day of the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer charged with murdering Mr. Floyd.
The doctor said that, based on the information he had at the time, he thought that oxygen deficiency, sometimes called asphyxia, was “one of the more likely” causes of Mr. Floyd’s death.
Prosecutors had said Mr. Floyd died of asphyxia, appearing to divert from the ruling of the county medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Mr. Floyd and said that he had died of “cardiopulmonary arrest.” That term, prosecutors have said, is applicable to any death because it simply means that a person’s heart and lungs have stopped.
ut-dom-throwaway on April 5th, 2021 at 21:36 UTC »
I just keep coming back to the idea that if it wasn't for the specific police intervention, anything else that might have attributed to his death would have been perfectly survivable. I'm not a juror, but I think a minimum of involuntary manslaughter makes more sense than total acquittal.
serendipindy on April 5th, 2021 at 17:44 UTC »
The headline is unclear. This doctor is stating his opinion, as an ER doc examining him when Floyd was brought to the hospital: That Floyd, in that moment, on the stretcher, being examined in the ER, appeared to have died of lack of oxygen. The doctor is not making a statement based upon what is now known about the incident.
coolidge_fan on April 5th, 2021 at 17:19 UTC »
Read the article:
The Doctor in the headline is the ER doc who treated George Floyd. This is NOT a medical examiner. The ER Doc said that "oxygen deficiency, sometimes called asphyxia, was 'one of the more likely' causes of Mr. Floyd’s death."
Under cross examination, the same doc admitted that "many different things — including taking fentanyl and methamphetamine — can cause a death that would still be considered asphyxiation."
Maybe this supports your pre-existing notions, maybe it don't. But RTFA.