“The use of the term cardiopulmonary arrest led to public confusion because some people wrongly assumed it meant that Mr. Floyd had a heart attack. Cardiopulmonary arrest means “the heart stops beating and the lungs stop moving,” Dr. Cyril Wecht said.
Some pathologists say they do not include it as a cause of death because it describes all deaths.
Dr. Baker also detailed “other significant conditions” including pre-existing ones such as severe disease of the vessels of Mr. Floyd’s heart. He also described laboratory findings of the opioid drug fentanyl and methamphetamines in Mr. Floyd’s blood. Not including these under cause of death means he concluded that “those were there before but didn’t start the lethal sequence of events,” Dr. Melinek said. Listing them “is meant to clarify” what made Mr. Floyd more vulnerable to the cause of death, she said, “not excuse it.””
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/08/us/george-floyd-cause-of-death.html