Medical responders across the U.S. are rethinking how they treat people in police custody after a jury last December handed down rare convictions against two Colorado paramedics for their roles in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain. The 23-year-old Black massage therapist was forcibly detained by police in the Denver suburb of Aurora following a suspicious person complaint. He died after being injected with ketamine by the paramedics. The convictions of the paramedics and one of the police officers brought a small measure of justice to the victim’s family. The case also highlights gaps in medical procedures that experts said must be addressed so more deaths can be prevented.
