Physicians for Human Rights has issued a statement commending the American College of Emergency Physicians' policy reversal on use of the diagnosis "excited delirium."
ACEP is the last major medical association in the United States to reject the term "excited delirium," a diagnosis applied disproportionately to the deaths of Black men in police custody, according to a May 9 press release from PHR.
"ACEP does not recognize the use of the term 'excited delirium' and its use in clinical settings," the April 14 statement reads.
ACEP joins the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Academy of Emergency Medicine, National Association of Medical Examiners and the American College of Medical Toxicology in disavowing the term.
"Years overdue, ACEP has finally disavowed the pseudoscientific term 'excited delirium,'" Joanna Naples-Mitchell, a PHR U.S. research adviser and co-author of PHR's 2022 report on "excited delirium," said in the press release.
"This policy reversal comes after years [of] tireless activism from affected families and research by PHR and others," the release continues. "We look forward to working with ACEP and other stakeholders around the country to end the use of 'excited delirium' entirely, and toward a world where medical professionals, not police, respond to medical crises, including suspected delirium."