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Colorado anesthesiologists urge halt of drug used in arrests

Racial Injustice Ketamine Injections
Posted at 7:16 AM, Sep 10, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-10 09:16:23-04

DENVER (AP) — A group of Colorado anesthesiologists wants paramedics to stop injecting people with a powerful sedative when police believe suspects are out of control until officials finish a review.

The Colorado Society of Anesthesiologists said Tuesday that ketamine is being used too often and with too many complications.

The Colorado health department announced a review of ketamine's use almost a year after the death of Elijah McClain.

READ MORE: Aurora city leaders push for temporary ban on ketamine, sedative used to subdue Elijah McClain

Officers put the Black man in a stranglehold, and paramedics injected him with ketamine.

The anesthesiologists recommended health officials suspend a program that allows paramedics and health agencies to use ketamine outside a hospital and requested that outside experts conduct an independent review of how the drug is administered.