Excited delirium caused woman's death in police custody, coroner finds; is it a 'whitewash' theory?
A controversial theory is being used to explain the death of a 130-pound woman after a 20-minute struggle with jailers in Fairfax County, Virginia, in which she endured four Taser shocks before she was subdued.
Natasha McKenna, who was mentally ill, died in February from a rare syndrome known as “excited delirium,” the Virginia medical examiner determined. The syndrome is said to be influenced by mental illness or drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine, according to the Washington Post. “Those in its grip often have extraordinary strength, are impervious to pain and act wildly or violently,” the Post reports. “Then, suddenly, some die.”
University of Miami neurology professor Deborah Mash says those experiencing excited delirium have elevated heart rates and body temperatures reaching 105 degrees or more. The problems, she says, are likely caused by a spike in neurotransmitters in the brain regulating organ functions.
The syndrome was cited in 75 of 330 deaths after Taser shocks by police between 2001 and 2008, according to research by Amnesty International. The Washington Post found more than two dozen other cases where deaths in police custody were attributed to excited delirium.
McKenna’s family disagrees with the coroner’s conclusion. Some medical experts are also skeptical, including Indiana University medicine professor Douglas Zipes. “They’ve come up with the concept that the individual is so excited they bring on their own death,” Zipes told the Post. “That you can be excited is without question. That you can be delirious is without question. But the concept of this being a syndrome causing death is incorrect and false.”
Eric Balaban, senior counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project, says the excited delirium theory can lead to a “whitewash” in cases of excessive police force. “There seems to be a high correlation between its use by medical examiners and in-custody deaths,” he told the Post.
Updated at 9:30 a.m. to correct wording.
