Powerful testimony in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd makes it clear that he died from a "low level of oxygen."
Chauvin's defenders have alleged Floyd's death could have been caused by heart disease or drug use. They've also claimed that Floyd must have been able to breathe because he audibly called out for his mother while Chauvin's knee was on his neck.
However, Dr. Martin Tobin, a pulmonologist who has studied the human respiratory for over 46 years, strongly refuted those claims from the stand.
"Mr. Floyd died from a low level of oxygen," Dr. Tobin, author of the 1,500-page textbook "Principles and Practice of Mechanical Ventilation," said in Hennepin County Court in downtown Minneapolis Thursday.
"It was almost to the effect as if a surgeon had gone in and removed a lung," Dr. Tobin said. "There was virtually very little opportunity for him to be able to get any air to move into the left side of his chest."
Tobin said the way police restrained Floyd meant he could not take in enough oxygen, which led his heart to stop beating. "The cause of the low level of oxygen was shallow breathing," Tobin said.
Floyd's breathing was lethally shallow due to a combination of three forces. Floyd was laid prone on the street, an officer was kneeling on his neck, and his hands were cuffed behind his back.
The doctor presented a visual during the trial that estimated Chauvin placed 91.5 pounds, or half his body weight, on Floyd's neck.
State of Minneota
The doctor presented another visual in court identifying a small detail most would dismiss as inconsequential, but stood out to the pulmonologist.
"The finger on the street, and on the right image you see his knuckle against the tire—to most people, this doesn't look significant, but to a physiologist, this is extraordinarily significant," Tobin said. "This tells you that he has used up his resources and he is now literally trying to breathe with his fingers and knuckles."
"He's using his fingers and his knuckles against the street to try to crank up the right side of his chest," Tobin said. "This is his only way to try and get air to get into the right lung."
State of Minnesota
Tobin also dismissed the notion that Floyd could breathe because he was able to cry out for his mother while Chauvin's knee was on his neck. He explained that even if someone's airway is reduced by 85%, the vocal cords can still function.
"It tells you how dangerous it is to think, 'Well, if he can speak, he is doing OK,'" Tobin said.
In the video of Floyd's arrest, Chauvin can be heard saying, "It takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to say things."
"It's a true statement, but it gives you an enormous false sense of security," Tobin said. "Certainly at the moment you're speaking you are breathing, but it doesn't tell you if you're going to be breathing five seconds later."
Tobin also dismissed claims that Floyd's death was attributed to his use of fentanyl and heart disease. The drug use would have decreased his heart rate which would have been increased by his heart condition. But neither was the case.
People who overdose on fentanyl usually have a respiratory rate of around ten. "Instead, we find that his respiratory rate is normal at 22," Tobin said.
"Basically it tells you that there isn't fentanyl on board that is affecting his respiratory centers. It's not having an effect on his respiratory centers," Tobin said.
While no one is certain what the verdict will be in the Chauvin case, today's testimony means it's likely to hinge on the former police officer's behavior, not Floyd's underlying health conditions or behavior.
Floyd's death came at a cultural flashpoint when millions of Americans came to realize how Black people have been brutalized by police in America. If the jury found that Floyd was responsible for his own death, it could have had a chilling effect on the ongoing fight against social injustice.
Dr. Tobin's testimony squarely places the onus on abuse of state power by the police, not on the behavior of a Black man.
Chauvin has been charged with second and third-degree murder, as well as second-degree manslaughter in Floyd's death. If convicted, he faces up to 65 years in prison.
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An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
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Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.