Amd §4141, Pub Health L; amd §677, County L; add §837-aa, Exec L; add §139-n, St Fin L
Prohibits the use of the term "excited delirium" as a diagnosis, label, or cause of death on death certificates, autopsy reports, police reports or any report, policy or procedure by a public agency or contractor; defines excited delirium.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A697A
SPONSOR: Gonzalez-Rojas TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, the county law, the executive law
and the state finance law, in relation to prohibiting the use of the
term excited delirium as a diagnosis, label, or cause of death
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Prohibits the use of the term "excited delirium" as a diagnosis, label,
or cause of death.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 4 of section 4141 of the public health law
by adding a new paragraph (e) establishes that no death certificate can
cite "excited delirium" as a diagnosis, label, cause of death, or
contributing factor to any death. Defines the term "excited delirium" to
describe a person's state that is not listed in the current version of
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or for which
the court finds there is insufficient scientific evidence or diagnostic
criteria to be recognized as a medical condition. Excited delirium also
includes excited delirium syndrome, excited delirium, hyperactive deli-
rium, agitated delirium, and exhaustive mania.
Section 2 amends section 677 of the county law by adding a new subdivi-
sion 2a establishes that no report of any autopsy or other examination
shall cite "excited delirium" as a cause or means of death. Defines the
term the same as Section 1.
Section 3 amends the executive law by adding a new section 837-y. Under
837-y the bill, 1. prohibiting the use of "excited delirium" by law
enforcement officers or peace officers in reports. 2. No law enforcement
or peace officer shall take action, nor any training be provided that
encourages action in response to an individual being reported or diag-
nosed as "excited delirium". 3. Defines the term same as Section 1.
Section 4 amends subdivision (b) of section 3018 of the civil practice
law and rules by stating "excited delirium" cannot be used as a basis
for affirmative defense. Defines the term the same as Section 1. The
application of this subdivision shall not be confined to the instances
enumerated.
Section 5 amends the civil practice law and rules by adding a new
section 4551 that says 1. Evidence that a plaintiff, or decedent on
whose behalf a wrongful death action has been filed, suffered from
"excited delirium" shall be inadmissible, including but not limited to
evidence by expert witness, this section shall not limit the ability of
factual circumstances surrounding the subject of action. 2. Defines the
term same as Section 1.
Section 6 amends the criminal procedure law by adding a new section
60.80 rules of evidence that reads "excited delirium" cannot be used as
a defense in a prosecution for any criminal offense. 2. Evidence
3. This section does not limit the ability of a defendant to describe
the facts 4. Defines the term the same as Section 1.
Section 7 amends the labor law by adding a new section 203-g to read as
prohibiting the use of "excited delirium" 1. Used in this action (a)
defines "contractor", (b) defines "public agency", (c) defines "Excited
delirium". 2, No employee of a public agency, contractor, or employee of
a contractor shall issue a diagnosis, report as a cause of death or
contributing factor to death or conduct any trainings or share materials
attesting to the validity of "excited delirium" as a cause of death. 3.
No public agency or contractor shall adopt or maintain any policy or
procedure that acknowledges the validity of the diagnosis, cause of
death, or label of "excited delirium."
Section 8 sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
"Excited Delirium" is a non-scientific term with a no scientific basis
as a legitimate diagnosis or cause of death, that is consistently used
to excuse and/or justify use of force against civilians by law enforce-
ment along with coroners and/or medical examiners to severe the
connection between the excessive force and the cause of death. Accord-
ing to New York Focus, the AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION denounced
the syndrome in 2020, expressing concern that it's "too non- specific"
and that "there have been no rigorous studies validating excited deliri-
um as a medical diagnosis." In 2021, the AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
decried it as "justification for excessive police force, disproportion-
ately cited in cases where Black men die in law enforcement custody."
A December 2021 Virginia Law Review article found that "between 2010 and
2020, Black people accounted for 43 percent of in-custody deaths that
named excited delirium as a possible cause, despite making up 13 percent
of the US population."
This concept has a racist history where it relies heavily on racist
tropes, including but not limited to "superhuman strength." This specif-
ically targets black and brown civilians, along with many minority
communities. To ensure proper safety and protection to our communities
from law enforcement this change should be made to protect and ensure
proper justice to our civilians.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: Introduced. Referred to the Health Committee.
05/17/2024 amended and recommited to health
05/21/2024 reported to Rules Committee
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
697--A
Cal. No. 27
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GONZALEZ-ROJAS, MEEKS, DAVILA, LUCAS, LUNSFORD,
SIMON, REYES, BORES, CLARK, TAYLOR, ROSENTHAL, GALLAGHER, BURDICK,
SHIMSKY, CUNNINGHAM, KELLES, SEAWRIGHT, SIMONE, OTIS -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Health -- ordered to a third reading,
amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place on the order of
third reading
AN ACT to amend the public health law, the county law, the executive law
and the state finance law, in relation to prohibiting the use of the
term excited delirium as a diagnosis, label, or cause of death
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 4141 of the public health law is
2 amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
3 (e) No death certificate shall cite excited delirium as a diagnosis,
4 label, cause of death, or contributing factor to any death. For the
5 purposes of this paragraph, the term "excited delirium" shall mean a
6 term used to describe a person's state of agitation, excitability, para-
7 noia, extreme aggression, physical violence, and apparent immunity to
8 pain that is not listed in the most current version of the Diagnostic
9 and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or for which the court finds
10 there is insufficient scientific evidence or diagnostic criteria to be
11 recognized as a medical condition. Excited delirium also includes
12 excited delirium syndrome, excited delirium, hyperactive delirium,
13 agitated delirium, and exhaustive mania.
14 § 2. Section 677 of the county law is amended by adding a new subdivi-
15 sion 2-a to read as follows:
16 2-a. No report of any autopsy or other examination shall cite excited
17 delirium as a cause or means or manner of death. For the purposes of
18 this subdivision, the term "excited delirium" shall mean a term used to
19 describe a person's state of agitation, excitability, paranoia, extreme
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02051-02-6
A. 697--A 2
1 aggression, physical violence, and apparent immunity to pain that is not
2 listed in the most current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical
3 Manual of Mental Disorders, or for which the court finds there is insuf-
4 ficient scientific evidence or diagnostic criteria to be recognized as a
5 medical condition. Excited delirium also includes excited delirium
6 syndrome, excited delirium, hyperactive delirium, agitated delirium, and
7 exhaustive mania.
8 § 3. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 837-aa to
9 read as follows:
10 § 837-aa. Prohibition of use of excited delirium. 1. No report by a
11 law enforcement officer or peace officer shall reference excited deliri-
12 um in such report.
13 2. No law enforcement officer or peace officer shall take any action
14 with respect to an individual in response to such individual being diag-
15 nosed or labeled as having or being in a state of excited delirium. No
16 training shall be provided that requires, encourages, or permits any
17 action in response to an individual being diagnosed or labeled as having
18 or being in a state of excited delirium.
19 3. For the purposes of this section, "excited delirium" shall mean a
20 term used to describe a person's state of agitation, excitability, para-
21 noia, extreme aggression, physical violence, and apparent immunity to
22 pain that is not listed in the most current version of the Diagnostic
23 and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or for which the court finds
24 there is insufficient scientific evidence or diagnostic criteria to be
25 recognized as a medical condition. Excited delirium also includes
26 excited delirium syndrome, excited delirium, hyperactive delirium,
27 agitated delirium, and exhaustive mania.
28 § 4. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 139-n to
29 read as follows:
30 § 139-n. Prohibition of use of excited delirium. 1. As used in this
31 section:
32 (a) "Contractor" means any person, firm, partnership, corporation,
33 association, company, organization or other similar entity, or any
34 combination thereof, including any subcontractor thereof, that employs
35 employees to perform work pursuant to an agreement with a public agency.
36 (b) "Public agency" means the state, and any department, agency,
37 board, bureau, commission, division, council or office of the state or
38 any political subdivision thereof, as defined in section one hundred of
39 the general municipal law, a municipal corporation as defined in section
40 sixty-six of the general construction law and any district thereof, a
41 public benefit corporation, or local or state authority as defined in
42 section two of the public authorities law, and any other entity author-
43 ized and empowered to enter into any contract or arrangement to conduct
44 economic development activity on behalf of any such public agency.
45 (c) "Excited delirium" means a term used to describe a person's state
46 of agitation, excitability, paranoia, extreme aggression, physical
47 violence, and apparent immunity to pain that is not listed in the most
48 current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
49 Disorders, or for which the court finds there is insufficient scientific
50 evidence or diagnostic criteria to be recognized as a medical condition.
51 Excited delirium also includes excited delirium syndrome, excited deli-
52 rium, hyperactive delirium, agitated delirium, and exhaustive mania.
53 2. No employee of a public agency or contractor or employee of a
54 contractor shall issue a diagnosis of excited delirium, report excited
55 delirium as a cause of death or a contributing factor to a death, or
A. 697--A 3
1 conduct any trainings or share materials attesting to the validity of
2 excited delirium as a cause of death.
3 3. No public agency or contractor shall adopt or maintain any policy
4 or procedure, including but not limited to police manuals and trainings,
5 that acknowledges the validity of the diagnosis, cause of death, or
6 label of excited delirium.
7 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
