On Radiozine this Thursday we will have a discussion with Aisha Beliso-De Jesus about her forthcoming book: EXCITED DELIRIUM: Race, Police Violence, and the Invention of a Disease . In this book, Aisha uncovers the invented disease—excited delirium syndrome—which is used by medical examiners to assign cause to “unexplained” deaths of black men and women killed during police interactions.
For example, Derek Chauvin’s legal defense cited George Floyd’s cause of death as ‘excited delirium syndrome.’ Elijah McClain in Colorado was diagnosed with ‘excited delirium syndrome’ by paramedics after he was placed in a carotid hold by police and injected with ketamine, and before he was declared brain dead three days later. ‘Excited delirium’ was among the causes of death listed for Daniel Prude, in 2020 when officers covered his head with a mesh hood and held him on the ground before he stopped breathing. Angelo Quinto, who died days after a police officer knelt on his neck for five minutes, was also diagnosed with ‘excited delirium.’ The list goes on.
As a result of George Floyd’s death, people increased their scrutiny of excited delirium syndrome. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union argued that excited delirium serves as a medical scapegoat for police abuse and is not an actual medical diagnosis. The syndrome is not listed in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and has no International Classification of Diseases code, which means that it cannot be studied statistically as a diagnosis. It is also not recognized by the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association or the World Health Organization. Until last year, however, it was accepted as a valid condition by the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME), which legitimated its use as a cause of death in the U.S. CBS News reported in 2018 that a review of studies found that more than 10 percent of deaths in police custody that year were attributed to excited delirium.
California banned its use as a cause of death last year, and three others states, Colorado, Florida and
How did this invented syndrome—one not listed in the standard reference book of mental health conditions; nor with its own diagnostic code to identify diseases and disorders, and which cannot be confirmed by any blood or diagnostic test—come to such ubiquity? Beliso-De Jesús, explores this question: she dissects the flawed and inconsistent diagnostic criteria produced by Charles Wetli (who invented the term) and other medical examiners to not only challenge the existence of the syndrome, but also unveil the deep-rooted biases and systemic racism ingrained within law enforcement and medical examiner practices.
EXCITED DELIRIUM: Race, Police Violence, and the Invention of a Disease https://www.dukeupress.edu/excited-delirium