> Mainstream medicine does not recognise the label as a diagnosis: it is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or the International Classification of Diseases, and is not recognized by the World Health Organization, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, or the National Association of Medical Examiners.

> In 1985, an article titled "Cocaine-induced psychosis and sudden death in recreational cocaine users", co-authored by deputy chief medical examiner for Dade County, Florida, Charles Victor Wetli. The article was published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences and reported that in five of the seven cases they studied, deaths occurred while in police custody.

> In 1988, Wetli claimed that a series of nineteen women, all Black prostitutes, had died of the condition due to "sexual excitement" while under the influence of cocaine, but police later announced they had found a serial killer responsible for those deaths.