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A Colorado paramedic has been sentenced to five years in prison for the death of Elijah McClain in a rare prosecution of medical responders that has left officials rethinking how they treat people in police custody.

All eyes are on an Aurora courtroom for the Elijah McClain case that went on trial last week. Mclain, a 23-year-old Black man, died four years ago during a violent encounter with Aurora police and paramedics. His death has had major reverberations in Colorado and far beyond.

A panel of Colorado medical experts has determined a condition called excited delirium is linked to implicit bias and racism. The finding is part of a report released Wednesday that recommends ways to rein in paramedics鈥� use of a powerful drug, ketamine, to sedate people, often in situations involving police.

An Indian-American doctor was sitting in his car outside the building he owned in Aurora. He honked at a police cruiser blocking his way. An Aurora police officer responded by drawing a gun on the doctor, questioning him as if he was a criminal suspect.

Colorado鈥檚 public health department issued an order Wednesday that prevents paramedics from using ketamine to sedate people in situations like the one involving Elijah McClain. The change came just hours after Gov. Jared Polis signed House Bill 1251, which he said in a statement is meant to 鈥渞estore trust in law enforcement.鈥�

The bill, dubbed the 鈥淜etamine Restriction Act,鈥� would require local and state law enforcement agencies around the country to certify that they prohibit the use of ketamine for arrest or detention. The bill aims to prevent its use in the field by paramedics. It would allow ketamine鈥檚 use in a hospital.

A bill crafted partly in response to the death of Elijah McClain that places limits on when paramedics can sedate people with ketamine is on the desk of Gov. Jared Polis for his consideration. Yet House Bill 1251 faces ongoing opposition from police, fire and emergency services groups. Supporters say it will ban paramedics from using the powerful drug in situations where officers wrongfully seek to subdue people.

A year ago, as Black Lives Matter supporters rallied outside Colorado鈥檚 Capitol building, lawmakers passed a sweeping police accountability law. It bans officers from using deadly force on suspects of minor crimes. It bans chokeholds. Now, a group of lawmakers wants to rein in paramedics鈥� use of drugs to sedate people in the presence of police.

The bill would prevent paramedics from using ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, and similar drugs to 鈥渟ubdue, sedate, or chemically incapacitate鈥� people, including those simply deemed suspicious, like Elijah McClain was when police stopped him, as well as those suspected of crimes.

On Monday, the city of Aurora released the results of a months-long independent investigation into Elijah McClain鈥檚 death. The report鈥檚 findings validate what Elijah McClain's mother, Sheneen McClain, has been saying publicly and privately about his death for nearly a year and a half. Ms. McClain joined Colorado Edition to talk about her son, the independent investigation, healing and justice.