Five Years of Springsteen Fighting Ketamine Use

The Westword has posted a in-depth look at the history of ketamine use in Colorado, highlighting efforts by Lakewood’s own Anita Springsteen. Springsteen witnessed and video recorded an incident of involuntary ketamine dosing by West Metro Fire, and her video contradicts the official story of an agitated individual. Five years later, she is still fighting and bringing a spotlight to the issue.

Five Years After Elijah McClain’s Death, What’s Changed About Colorado’s Use of Chemical Restraint? by Alan Prendergast
Westword,

Article Highlights:

“As the five-year anniversary of the McClain tragedy approaches, Colorado is widely regarded as being in the vanguard of efforts to reform the use of chemical restraint.”

“Springsteen filed a complaint with CDPHE about the paramedics’ actions in Axtell’s case. She received a letter stating that the department had investigated the matter thoroughly, including “interviews and meetings with persons with knowledge of the event in question,” and determined there were no grounds for disciplinary sanctions. But that investigation didn’t involve talking to Springsteen, an eyewitness, or viewing her video, which contradicts the paramedic’s account of the incident.”

“… delirium was a convenient excuse for police agencies looking to elude liability for in-custody deaths. It also became a ready-made justification for paramedics to bring out the ketamine. “