The Hennepin Healthcare Forced Ketamine Studies, Excited Delirium, and Police Violence

In the summer of 2018, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported clinical trials at Hennepin County Medical Center in which emergency medical personnel were injecting agitated individuals with ketamine, often at the urging of police. These individuals were enrolled in the trials without their knowledge or consent. In one of the studies, nearly 40 percent of subjects given ketamine experienced breathing issues so serious that they had to be intubated. Many subjects were members of vulnerable, marginalized groups. In this paper, we describe the ways in which the Hennepin Healthcare ketamine studies violated federal research guidelines. We consider the troubling relationship between Hennepin Healthcare and law enforcement, as well as the concept of excited delirium. Finally, we consider some alternative ways of conceptualizing clinical trials in which the intervention may not benefit subjects. We compare the ketamine trials to clinical trials of chemical restraints in nursing homes and other health care institutions and also to studies of “nonlethal” weapons.