NewsFlash

[Satire]

TORONTO, Ont., May. 17, 2008 (Press Release Newsflash) -- Excited-Delirium.com, a market leader in technical observations and related philosophical commentary, has released the following statement regarding the recent National Post headline:

'EXCITED DELIRIUM' BLAMED FOR DEATHS [LINK]


We are very disappointed at this patently false accusation.

This "We're not talking about Tasers" Excited Delirium meeting, which apparently has included significant off-line discussions about tasers, has received sensational coverage from the media with many reports drawing an unsubstantiated and uninformed conclusion as to the cause of these so-called 'excited delirium deaths'. While previous incidents were widely reported in the media as 'excited delirium deaths,' the role of the excited delirium has never been based on any physical evidence whatsoever.

As one medical wag (from the left coast of course) has admitted: it's a condition not a diagnosis. We agree - and thus it should never be listed on a death certificate as a cause of death any more than abdominal pain would be. If a coroner can't find the underlying cause of death, then he or she should honestly admit it. That nothing at all was found may be very strong evidence in itself.

We are taken aback by the small number of related organizations that have irresponsibly published propaganda blaming excited delirium as the cause of death even before completion of the investigation. Those sensationalistic [is that a word?] press releases completely ignore the often-close temporal relationship of a certain weapon's application after many hours of so-called excited delirium and/or imagined alcohol withdrawal.

Excited-Delirium.com is hosting over 250 posts exposing these false and misleading press releases and will take other actions as appropriate. These unsubstantiated, false press releases mislead our brainwashed police officials, and perhaps some of the public, and could adversely influence public policy in ways which could place the reputations of law enforcement organizations, and the lives of the public, at greater risk.


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