Do you support this bill?

Assembly Bill A697

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Prohibits the use of the term "excited delirium" as a diagnosis, label, or cause of death

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status Via S1714 - In Assembly Committee

Please enter your contact information

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

Votes

Bill Amendments

co-Sponsors

2025-A697 - Details

See Senate Version of this Bill:
S1714
Law Section:
Public Health Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §4141, Pub Health L; amd §677, County L; add §837-y, Exec L; add §139-m, St Fin L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:
A9414, S9039

2025-A697 - Summary

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.

2025-A697 - Bill Text download pdf 

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    697
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                                (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:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision 4 of section 4141 of the public health law is
 amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
   (E) NO DEATH CERTIFICATE SHALL CITE EXCITED DELIRIUM AS  A  DIAGNOSIS,
 LABEL,  CAUSE  OF  DEATH,  OR  CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO ANY DEATH. FOR THE
 PURPOSES OF THIS PARAGRAPH, THE TERM "EXCITED  DELIRIUM"  SHALL  MEAN  A
 TERM USED TO DESCRIBE A PERSON'S STATE OF AGITATION, EXCITABILITY, PARA-
 NOIA,  EXTREME  AGGRESSION,  PHYSICAL VIOLENCE, AND APPARENT IMMUNITY TO
 PAIN THAT IS NOT LISTED IN THE MOST 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  DELIRIUM,
 AGITATED DELIRIUM, AND EXHAUSTIVE MANIA.
   § 2. Section 677 of the county law is amended by adding a new subdivi-
 sion 2-a to read as follows:
   2-A. NO REPORT OF ANY AUTOPSY OR OTHER EXAMINATION SHALL CITE  EXCITED
 DELIRIUM  AS  A  CAUSE  OR MEANS OR MANNER OF DEATH. FOR THE PURPOSES OF
 THIS SUBDIVISION, THE TERM "EXCITED DELIRIUM" SHALL MEAN A TERM USED  TO
 DESCRIBE  A PERSON'S STATE OF AGITATION, EXCITABILITY, PARANOIA, EXTREME
 AGGRESSION, PHYSICAL VIOLENCE, AND APPARENT IMMUNITY TO PAIN THAT IS NOT
 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.

co-Sponsors

2025-A697A (ACTIVE) - Details

See Senate Version of this Bill:
S1714
Law Section:
Public Health Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §4141, Pub Health L; amd §677, County L; add §837-y, Exec L; add §139-m, St Fin L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:
A9414, S9039

2025-A697A (ACTIVE) - Summary

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.

2025-A697A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf 

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  697--A
                                                          Cal. No. 27
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                                (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:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 4141 of the public health  law  is
 amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
   (E)  NO  DEATH CERTIFICATE SHALL CITE EXCITED DELIRIUM AS A DIAGNOSIS,
 LABEL, CAUSE OF DEATH, OR CONTRIBUTING FACTOR  TO  ANY  DEATH.  FOR  THE
 PURPOSES  OF  THIS  PARAGRAPH,  THE TERM "EXCITED DELIRIUM" SHALL MEAN A
 TERM USED TO DESCRIBE A PERSON'S STATE OF AGITATION, EXCITABILITY, PARA-
 NOIA, EXTREME AGGRESSION, PHYSICAL VIOLENCE, AND  APPARENT  IMMUNITY  TO
 PAIN  THAT  IS  NOT LISTED IN THE MOST 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  DELIRIUM,
 AGITATED DELIRIUM, AND EXHAUSTIVE MANIA.
   § 2. Section 677 of the county law is amended by adding a new subdivi-
 sion 2-a to read as follows:
   2-A.  NO REPORT OF ANY AUTOPSY OR OTHER EXAMINATION SHALL CITE EXCITED
 DELIRIUM AS A CAUSE OR MEANS OR MANNER OF DEATH.  FOR  THE  PURPOSES  OF
 THIS  SUBDIVISION, THE TERM "EXCITED DELIRIUM" SHALL MEAN A TERM USED TO
 DESCRIBE A PERSON'S STATE OF AGITATION, EXCITABILITY, PARANOIA,  EXTREME
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

James_Gill
11 months ago

You should not include the term "hyperactive delirium" in this bill. The term “hyperactive delirium” is a medical diagnosis listed in DSM-V TR and the ICD-10. By including it in this bill you are not only infringing on free speech, but you will be making it illegal for a physician to use it in a report or to teach about it. First responders must be instructed on how to recognize and respond to the following: people with acute delirium (of any type), the potential risks of delirium, and how they need to treat the delirious individual as a medical rather than a criminal matter. While there exists the possibility that some law enforcement agents may use these terms in an attempt to “cover-up” a traumatic restraint death, this possibility does not outweigh the benefits of having first responders know how to recognize an acute delirium, regardless of its etiology, in order to attempt to carefully approach them and potentially save their lives. Simply canceling the term “excited delirium” is not going to eradicate this medical condition or the potential misuse of even the accepted medical terminology.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.