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Pierre Kory, MD, MPA's avatar

A subscriber just wrote to me the following: I’m wondering if you could share more detail about the following passage in your report:

“I found no evidence that Mr. Floyd’s respiratory drive (rate) was significantly suppressed, despite the fact he had opiates in his bloodstream, an agent known to suppress respiratory rate. His intact respiratory rate is evidenced by observing him in the minutes prior to and at the beginning of the restraint by the officers whereby he was able to walk, sit, stand, answer questions, and cry out for help. It is clear from these observations that the opiates in his bloodstream at the time were not of sufficient concentration to suppress his respiratory rate.”

This section is intriguing to me because it touches on the core of the defense’s argument that Mr. Floyd was not murdered but died from a drug overdose during his arrest.

My questions are as follows:

1) You cite several activities such as walking, standing, talking / crying out as indication that the concentration of opiates in Mr. Floyd’s blood were not sufficient to suppress his respiratory rate. However, don’t we know exactly a) what the opiate levels in Mr. Floyd’s blood were, and b) the levels required to affect (and stop) human respiration? If so, why do you draw your conclusion about whether or not opiates contributed to his respiratory failure from his observed activities during his arrest as opposed to this medical data?

2) What do you make of Mr. Floyd’s erratic behavior, including complaints that he was not able to breathe and that he was dying, before being placed on the ground and restrained by Mr. Chauvin?

My answers:

1) I do know the level of opiates and they were not elevated enough to suppress breathing.

2) Patients whose respiratory drive is being suppressed by opiates… NEVER complain of it. They descend into a sleep like, highly pleasurable state and then with too much opiates, they become unconscious, their breathing slows, stops, and they arrest. Mr. Floyd was fully awake and essentially fighting police officers. That aint someone on a lot of dope. He was high for sure… but he was breathing just fine.. He was likely panicking. He was claustrophobic, was terrified of being placed in a police car and can’t handle handcuffs. My guess is he was having a panic attack, patients with panic attacks always complain of not being able to breathe. Either that or he was simply trying to not be placed in a police car.

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Lisa Sullivan's avatar

Wow‼️ Great work, Dr. Kory‼️

Do you ever rest❓❓❓

Take care of yourself as you continue your selfless efforts to take care of others‼️

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