Topline
California has enacted a first-of-its-kind law banning the medical and legal use of “excited delirium,” a term often cited as a cause of death that many experts believe is racially motivated and used as justification for deaths in police custody like George Floyd’s 2020 murder.
Key Facts
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 360 on Sunday, which bans doctors and medical examiners from using the term “excited delirium” as a cause of death, bans law enforcement from using the term to describe a person’s behavior in an incident report and bars testimony using the term from being allowed in civil court.
Excited delirium is characterized as aggression, agitation, distress and sudden death—it was initially used to describe the agitated behavior of patients with cocaine toxicity, and later the cause of death in hyperactive people if an autopsy failed to identify a specific cause, but it has since been used as grounds for sedation or restraint by police officers.
Several medical organizations have discredited the term and believe it’s pseudoscience, like the American Psychiatric Association, the National Association of Medical Examiners and the American Medical Association, which said the condition “excited delirium” is not supported by evidence and the term has been associated with racism in law enforcement and medicine.
Researchers believe the term is often rooted in racial stereotypes about sensitivity to pain and could “encourage biased diagnosis and treatment,” according to a study published in January in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine.
Big Number
289. That’s how many non-shooting-related deaths of a person in Texas police custody between 2005 and 2017 were attributed to excited delirium, according to a report by the Austin American-Statesman. This means that one in six deaths in police custody during this time were labeled as excited delirium.
Key Background
The California bill was inspired by the case of Angelo Quinto, a 30-year-old Filipino-American veteran who reportedly died after California police knelt on his body for five minutes straight in 2020. His mother called police two days before Christmas because Quinto was having a mental health crisis, but he died three days after the police held him to the ground until he passed out. The coroner ruled his cause of death as excited delirium and charges were not filed against the officers involved. The term was also used in connection with George Floyd, who died after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for around nine minutes. One police officer was heard in a video of the killing saying he’s concerned about “excited delirium or whatever.” Defense attorneys for Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng, two officers who were at the scene, argued Floyd’s excited delirium justified the force officers used on him. However, the judge presiding over the case said the concept has been debunked and isn’t an official medical term. Similarly to Quinto, medical examiners said excited delirium played a part in the death of Daniel Prude, a Black man who died in New York after police put a hood over his head during a mental health episode in March 2020. Though his official cause of death was listed as complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint, excited delirium and intoxication by the drug PCP were listed as contributing factors.
Surprising Fact
A 2021 study published by the Virginia Law Review found that out of the 166 cases between 2010 and 2020 where a person died in police custody and excited delirium was cited as the cause of death, Black people made up 43% of those deaths.
Crucial Quote
“Angelo Quinto is the reason why I’m in this space. It’s because a United States Navy man who had a mental health issue and police were called,” Assemblyman Mike Gipson and author of the bill told CBS News. “The Antioch police laid on his neck and he died, and they put on the death certificate that he died from excited delirium, which is not correct. It causes us to raise questions.”
Daniel Prude’s Autopsy Report Says ‘Excited Delirium,’ A Controversial Diagnosis, Contributed To His Death (Forbes)
George Floyd killing: Judge pans ‘delirium’ defense at ex-cops’ state trial (MPR News)
California Man Died After Police Knelt on Him for 5 Minutes, Family Says (New York Times)
Antioch man inspires first in the nation law to ban term “excited delirium” as cause of death (CBS News)
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