Occasionally a person who has been arrested by the police dies. The list of possible causes is long, so a careful investigation is needed.
Situation: death of a person recently arrested by the police
The differential diagnosis of death after arrest may include:
(1) sickle cell hemoglobinopathy (SS, SC, S thal, etc)
(2) Kawasaki disease
(3) drug overdose
(4) cardiac arrhythmia
(5) anomalous coronary artery
(6) suicide
(7) homicide by another prisoner
(8) excessive force during arrest
(9) post-arrest police or institutional neglect or abuse
(10) asthma
(11) pulmonary embolism
(12) occult neoplasm (CNS, heart, larynx, etc)
(13) subdural hematoma from prearrest trauma
(14) withdrawal
(15) seizure disorder
(16) ketoacidosis? (Y or N)
A complete and careful investigation is required to identify the cause or causes. This may include:
(1) age of the patient
(2) past medical history
(3) review of arrest report, including presence of excited delirium
(4) testimony (being aware of potential biases)
(5) signs of injury
(6) presence of drugs or paraphernalia
(7) serum, tissue or drug levels
(8) targeted testing (hemoglobin electrophoresis)
(9) a complete autopsy
