Doctors question use of ‘excited delirium’ to explain deaths of suspects in police custody

Source: abajournal.com 2/13/24
[ACSOL note: We are posting this since this concept could be used to excuse hatred towards registrants]

In October 2023, three Tacoma, Washington, police officers went on trial for the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man who died after he was punched, put in a chokehold and tased during a confrontation with police. In December, a jury acquitted the officers of second-degree murder and manslaughter.

One detail in the defense’s case may have influenced the jury: A paramedic at the scene testified that he believed Ellis showed signs of “excited delirium”—a controversial diagnosis that law enforcement agencies and some medical examiners use to describe a dangerous, agitated condition often brought on by drug use. Critics, however, say that excited delirium is pseudoscience that’s been used for decades to excuse deaths in police custody.

Though the Pierce County medical examiner described Ellis’ death as a homicide caused by hypoxia due to restraint, the defense pointed out that Ellis had methamphetamines in his system to make the case that excited delirium might have been to blame rather than excessive police force.

But critics say excited delirium is pseudoscience that’s been used for decades to excuse deaths in police custody.

Organizations, including Physicians for Human Rights, argue that excited delirium has no medical foundation and that its origins are plagued with racism. The term’s role in high-profile police misconduct cases, including the deaths of Ellis, Elijah McClain, and George Floyd has prompted major medical organizations to repudiate its use.

A movement begins to ban excited delirium

In October, California became the first state to ban the use of excited delirium as a cause of death in medical examiner reports—prompted by the 2021 death of Angelo Quinto, a Filipino American veteran who was experiencing a mental health crisis and died after police kneeled on his back for five minutes. Medical examiners described the cause of death as excited delirium, and a later coroner’s report called the death an accident rather than a homicide.

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This needs to be addressed. Recently, I was directed to someone in the Maricopa County jail in Arizona. They post all of their deaths in the jail on their website. About 40 to 50 people die in the Maricopa County jail each year and the majority of these deaths are people in their 20’s and 30’s. Less than 10% of deaths are people over 60. This is very suspicious and needs to be investigated. Why are all of these young people dying?