I'm going to collect some downvotes here and say the cop still contributed to his death. This doctor breaks it down in great detail, and I have experienced the same thing in practice as well. It doesn't fit the mold for a typical fentanyl overdose for the clinical presentation. I think the guy may have died anyway from the huge list of compounding medical issues (heart disease, anxiety from arrest sans restraint, meth, fentanyl, covid-19, and sickle cell), but the cop had endless warnings about his declining status in that position he was holding him in. That's what might put him on the legal hook here. He had ample opportunity to let up and allow him to obviously die of all those things without adding to it by pressing on him. I knew the moment he threatened bystanders with pepper spray for confronting him about not checking his pulse after he appeared to stop breathing that he was legally digging his own grave.
When an asthmatic says "I cannot breathe", they don't literally mean they are physically incapable of moving air back and forth at that very moment. They mean they are struggling to do so, and in worst instances, will lead to respiratory failure and death.
Edit: I see someone downvoted. If it was the person I am responding to, I look forward to the response. I treat patients who can't breathe all of the time. I would be the biggest asshole on earth to say, "Umm ACKTUALLY you're able to breathe by saying that" then have them die because that's how many people communicate difficulty breathing.
Asthmatic here. In a full blown asthma attack there is no way that I could yell that loudly. You know what makes you feel like you can't breathe, even though your airway isn't obstructed? Cardiac arrest.
I'm going to collect some downvotes here and say the cop still contributed to his death. This doctor breaks it down in great detail, and I have experienced the same thing in practice as well. It doesn't fit the mold for a typical fentanyl overdose for the clinical presentation. I think the guy may have died anyway from the huge list of compounding medical issues (heart disease, anxiety from arrest sans restraint, meth, fentanyl, covid-19, and sickle cell), but the cop had endless warnings about his declining status in that position he was holding him in. That's what might put him on the legal hook here. He had ample opportunity to let up and allow him to obviously die of all those things without adding to it by pressing on him. I knew the moment he threatened bystanders with pepper spray for confronting him about not checking his pulse after he appeared to stop breathing that he was legally digging his own grave.
No downvote but a counterpoint. You cannot say "I can't breathe," if you actually cannot breathe.
When an asthmatic says "I cannot breathe", they don't literally mean they are physically incapable of moving air back and forth at that very moment. They mean they are struggling to do so, and in worst instances, will lead to respiratory failure and death.
Edit: I see someone downvoted. If it was the person I am responding to, I look forward to the response. I treat patients who can't breathe all of the time. I would be the biggest asshole on earth to say, "Umm ACKTUALLY you're able to breathe by saying that" then have them die because that's how many people communicate difficulty breathing.
Asthmatic here. In a full blown asthma attack there is no way that I could yell that loudly. You know what makes you feel like you can't breathe, even though your airway isn't obstructed? Cardiac arrest.