California Takes Stand Against Controversial 'Excited Delirium' Diagnosis

California has become the first state to ban the controversial diagnosis of "excited delirium," which has been used to justify deaths in police custody. The new law prohibits medical professionals from attributing deaths to excited delirium on death certificates or autopsy reports, and law enforcement is barred from using the term in incident reports or civil court testimony. The diagnosis has been criticized for disproportionately being applied to Black men and lacking scientific validity. Several national medical associations have already discredited excited delirium, and California's move is seen as a significant step towards holding police accountable for excessive force.