Bill Text: NY A00697 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: 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.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 20-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-08 - referred to health [A00697 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-A00697-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           697

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 8, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of A. GONZALEZ-ROJAS, MEEKS, EPSTEIN, DAVILA, LUCAS,
          LUNSFORD, SIMON, REYES, BORES, CLARK,  TAYLOR,  ROSENTHAL,  GALLAGHER,
          BURDICK, SHIMSKY, MAMDANI, CUNNINGHAM -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Health

        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
    20  aggression, physical violence, and apparent immunity to pain that is not
    21  listed in the most current version of  the  Diagnostic  and  Statistical

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02051-01-5
        A. 697                              2

     1  Manual of Mental Disorders, or for which the court finds there is insuf-
     2  ficient scientific evidence or diagnostic criteria to be recognized as a
     3  medical  condition.  Excited  delirium  also  includes  excited delirium
     4  syndrome, excited delirium, hyperactive delirium, agitated delirium, and
     5  exhaustive mania.
     6    §  3.  The  executive  law is amended by adding a new section 837-y to
     7  read as follows:
     8    § 837-y. Prohibition of use of excited delirium. 1. No report by a law
     9  enforcement officer or peace officer shall reference excited delirium in
    10  such report.
    11    2. No law enforcement officer or peace officer shall take  any  action
    12  with respect to an individual in response to such individual being diag-
    13  nosed  or labeled as having or being in a state of excited delirium.  No
    14  training shall be provided that requires,  encourages,  or  permits  any
    15  action in response to an individual being diagnosed or labeled as having
    16  or being in a state of excited delirium.
    17    3.  For  the purposes of this section, "excited delirium" shall mean a
    18  term used to describe a person's state of agitation, excitability, para-
    19  noia, extreme aggression, physical violence, and  apparent  immunity  to
    20  pain  that  is  not listed in the most current version of the Diagnostic
    21  and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or for which the court finds
    22  there is insufficient scientific evidence or diagnostic criteria  to  be
    23  recognized  as  a  medical  condition.  Excited  delirium  also includes
    24  excited  delirium  syndrome,  excited  delirium,  hyperactive  delirium,
    25  agitated delirium, and exhaustive mania.
    26    § 4. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 139-m to
    27  read as  follows:
    28    §  139-m.  Prohibition  of use of excited delirium. 1. As used in this
    29  section:
    30    (a) "Contractor" means any  person,  firm,  partnership,  corporation,
    31  association,  company,  organization  or  other  similar  entity, or any
    32  combination thereof, including any subcontractor thereof,  that  employs
    33  employees to perform work pursuant to an agreement with a public agency.
    34    (b)  "Public  agency"  means  the  state,  and any department, agency,
    35  board, bureau, commission, division, council or office of the  state  or
    36  any  political subdivision thereof, as defined in section one hundred of
    37  the general municipal law, a municipal corporation as defined in section
    38  sixty-six of the general construction law and any  district  thereof,  a
    39  public  benefit  corporation,  or local or state authority as defined in
    40  section two of the public authorities law, and any other entity  author-
    41  ized  and empowered to enter into any contract or arrangement to conduct
    42  economic development activity on behalf of any such public agency.
    43    (c) "Excited delirium" means a term used to describe a person's  state
    44  of  agitation,  excitability,  paranoia,  extreme  aggression,  physical
    45  violence, and apparent immunity to pain that is not listed in  the  most
    46  current  version  of  the  Diagnostic  and  Statistical Manual of Mental
    47  Disorders, or for which the court finds there is insufficient scientific
    48  evidence or diagnostic criteria to be recognized as a medical condition.
    49  Excited delirium also includes excited delirium syndrome, excited  deli-
    50  rium, hyperactive delirium, agitated delirium, and exhaustive mania.
    51    2.  No  employee  of  a  public  agency or contractor or employee of a
    52  contractor shall issue a diagnosis of excited delirium,  report  excited
    53  delirium  as  a  cause  of death or a contributing factor to a death, or
    54  conduct any trainings or share materials attesting to  the  validity  of
    55  excited delirium as a cause of death.
        A. 697                              3

     1    3.  No  public agency or contractor shall adopt or maintain any policy
     2  or procedure, including but not limited to police manuals and trainings,
     3  that acknowledges the validity of the  diagnosis,  cause  of  death,  or
     4  label of excited delirium.
     5    § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.