"Excited Delirium" Diagnoses Have Protected Bad Cops, But Now Prominent Doctors Are Rejecting It

Jessica Washington
·2 min read
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Elijah McClain and George Floyd pictures left by demonstrators line up the fence outside the Brooklyn Center police station while protesting the death of Daunte Wright who was shot and killed by a police officer in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 14, 2021. - Minneapolis has been roiled by nights of violent protests after police officer Kim Potter, who is white, opened fire on Black 20-year-old Daunte Wrigh in his car on April 11. Potter, who shot dead Daunte Wright in a Minneapolis suburb after appearing to mistake her gun for her Taser, was arrested on April 14 and will face manslaughter charges.
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Elijah McClain and George Floyd pictures left by demonstrators line up the fence outside the Brooklyn Center police station while protesting the death of Daunte Wright who was shot and killed by a police officer in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 14, 2021. - Minneapolis has been roiled by nights of violent protests after police officer Kim Potter, who is white, opened fire on Black 20-year-old Daunte Wrigh in his car on April 11. Potter, who shot dead Daunte Wright in a Minneapolis suburb after appearing to mistake her gun for her Taser, was arrested on April 14 and will face manslaughter charges.

Most people have never heard the term “excited delirium,” but for years, cops have been using the diagnosis as a get-out-of-jail-free card. Now, prominent medical groups, which once championed the diagnosis, are disavowing the term critics call unscientific and racist.

On Thursday, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) put out a statement rebutting their earlier report on excited delirium. The group also voted to prevent their members from being able to use the term whilst testifying in civil or criminal cases. The ACEP is following in the footsteps of the National Association of Medical Examiners, which earlier this year said that the term should not be listed as a cause of death. Earlier this month, California became the first state to ban doctors and medical examiners from using the term as a cause of death.

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The American College of Emergency Physicians statement doesn’t mean the term will disappear. California is the only state where it’s actually outlawed. Still, the news last week was a positive sign for people hoping to remove a dangerous medical weapon from the hands of law enforcement.

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