AMA Opposes Administration of Ketamine, Use of ‘Excited Delirium’ for Law Enforcement Purposes

The AMA opposes the use of ketamine and other sedative/hypnotic agents as a pharmacological intervention for agitated individuals in out-of-hospital settings to chemically restrain an individual solely for law enforcement purposes and not for legitimate medical reasons.In addition, the AMA opposes the use of the term “excited delirium” as a medical diagnosis until a clear set of diagnostic criteria for the term is validated.With strong support from APA and the Section Council on Psychiatry, the AMA House of Delegates yesterday approved a report by the AMA ’s Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) addressing concerns about recent deaths of people—predominantly young Black men labeled as experiencing “excited delirium”—after ketamine was administered to restrain them. In December 2020, the APA Board of Trustees approved aposition statement asserting that “excited delirium” lacks any clear diagnostic criteria and calling for evidence-based protocols for administration of ketamine in emergency medical situations outside the hospital.At the AMA meeting, Ken Certa, M.D., senior delegate for APA, told the House that too many people have died after being administered ketamine by police or emergency medical technicians. Disproportionately, they have been people of color, he said.“As psychiatrists, we take care of people in emergency situations; we have experience dealing with people brought in by the police in agitated states,” Certa told the AMA delegates....
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: AMA American Medical Association excited delirium Source Type: research