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Ending ECT: From a Lawsuit to a Novel – The Moment is Now! – BizOMadness

October 30, 2017 By Deborah Schwartzkopff

Bonnie Burstow PHD
Bonnie Burstow PHD

Eyes peer at me, then quickly look away.
Because they are afraid.
Because they sense the humiliation.
Because they know not what else to do.
Stretchers in front of me. Stretchers behind me.
Some poor soul being dragged where none of us want to go.

Who would have thought that a single shriek could fill the universe?

from Burstow, 2017—The Other Mrs. Smith

 

In the midst of flagrant professional misrepresentation of ECT, this article will provide hard-hitting and accurate information about the “psychiatric treatment” known as electroshock (ECT). This is a call to arms. Quite simply, the time has come for a frontal assault on the ECT industry and on the professionals associated with it. The time has come to rid society of this barbaric “treatment” altogether.

Naturally, it would make no sense to call for the end to a “treatment” unless it was, first and foremost, clearly profoundly injurious. So…

What are the Salient Facts about Electroshock?

There are so many horrific facts about ECT that it would take several articles to list them all. In a nutshell, however, some of the most pressing of these are:

Read full article in the BizOMadness Blog ->

Filed Under: Articles

Electroconvulsive Therapy Class Action Filed!

September 15, 2017 By Deborah Schwartzkopff

David Karen, Esq.
David Karen, Esq.

On September 11, 2017, DK Law Group LLP filed a class action in federal court against the manufacturers of Electroconvulsive Therapy devices (ECT) on behalf of every person who has been injured by electroconvulsive therapy in California since May of 1982. The lawsuit is based on traditional state-law negligence principles, and the manufacturers’ failure to comply with their obligations to the FDA.

ECT has been around for nearly eighty years, since about 1938. Since then, the practice has become widespread, even though the psychiatric community has never conclusively established any particular mechanism of action through which ECT treats any type of mental illness.

Medical Device Regulation

Medical devices in the United States are strictly regulated by the FDA under the

  • Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act (FDCA),
  • Medical Device Amendments of 1976 (MDA),
  • and Safe Medical Devices Act of 1990 (SMDA).

FDAThe Medical Device Amendments determined that medical devices would be classified into three categories based on their safety and effectiveness.

Devices that present significant risks are classified into Class III, and these devices typically must satisfy a strict “premarket approval” process, which requires that manufacturers provide a strong showing of safety and effectiveness before such devices can be placed on the market.  ECT Devices are classified as Class III.

ECT Devices “Grandfathered in”

When the Medical Device Amendments were passed in 1976, there were many existing devices, including ECT, which were allowed on the market without satisfying the premarket approval standard. Instead, they were “grandfathered in” as devices marketed before the MDA, or devices substantially similar to such pre-amendment devices.

Failure to Report

Despite being granted access to the market, manufacturers of devices that have been “grandfathered in” still must furnish certain information to the FDA. For example, under the MDA and SMDA, such manufacturers must report to the FDA all information reasonably known when their devices may have contributed to a death or serious injury. The “reasonably known” standard is broad, and requires a manufacturer to seek out information pertaining to adverse events resulting from use of their devices, instead of passively waiting for the information to reach them.

The DK Law Group’s lawsuit alleges that the manufacturers of ECT devices failed to meet these requirements, and as a result, placed a dangerous product on the market without an adequate warning.

View text of lawsuit here.

ECT Victims Sought

If you or someone you know has been been injured by electroconvulsive therapy in California, contact DK Law at (805) 498-1212 or by email at ECT@dk4law.com.

In addition, all ECT survivors (whether injured in California or not) are encouraged to fill out the ECT Justice questionnaire.  ECT Justice will attempt to notify you as we learn of opportunities to participate in legal actions in other states and countries.

Filed Under: News

What the Science and Evidence Tell Us About Electroshock

September 10, 2017 By Deborah Schwartzkopff

Professor John Read

James Moore interviews Professor John Read in this Mad in America podcast.  Professor Read talks about his research into the safety and efficacy of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT).

Professor Read worked for nearly 20 years as a Clinical Psychologist and manager of mental health services in the UK and the USA, before joining the University of Auckland, New Zealand, where he worked until 2013.

Click the play button below.

MAD IN AMERICA: SCIENCE, PSYCHIATRY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Click here for a detailed summary of this podcast, and to join the discussion on this topic.

 

 

Filed Under: Articles

Jonathan Emord Goes Round Two with the FDA on Electroshock Devices

August 24, 2017 By Deborah Schwartzkopff

Jonathan W. Emord, Esq.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Attorney Jonathan Emord and his co-counsel Kendrick Moxon have filed a Supplement to their Citizen Petition of August 2016, protesting the FDA’s Proposed Order to reclassify and make more readily available the Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Device used to give “shock-treatment.”  The reclassification would make it easier for doctors to give the treatment.

Shock treatment is well-known as the punishment given actor Jack Nicholson in the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.  More recently it was portrayed in the TV series Homeland when given to the star, destroying her memory and intelligence. Memory loss and brain damage are the central issue in the attorneys’ filing.

FDAThis is shaping up to be a David and Goliath scenario with individuals damaged by ECT on one side and the FDA, under pressure from the industry that profits from ECT, on the other.

Click here to read entire article.

Filed Under: News

Attorney Jonathan Emord Takes on the FDA Over Electroshock (ECT) Device

August 25, 2016 By Deborah Schwartzkopff

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — In December 2015, the FDA issued a proposed order to down-classify the device used to deliver electroshock therapy. Today, Attorney Jonathan Emord filed a Citizens Petition with the FDA on behalf of 5 individuals who were damaged by electroshock.

I hope this is the beginning of the path to do away with shock [ECT]. Hopefully it’ll go the way of lobotomies, another ‘miracle treatment’.
ECT survivor, shocked as a teenager.

Most people surveyed thought electroshock therapy, also called electroconvulsive therapy or ECT, did go the way of lobotomies. In fact, a conservative estimate is that over 100,000 individuals receive electroshock therapy each year in the U.S. Actual numbers are not available because there is no tracking of this.

Click here to read complete article.

Filed Under: News

Stop FDA from Down-Classifying the Electroshock Device – MindFreedom International

April 4, 2016 By Deborah Schwartzkopff

MindFreedom International

Sign MindFreedom International’s Petition

#FDASTOPTHESHOCKDEVICEThere is a long history of the FDA attempting to remove the experimental status of the shock device. There is an even longer history of those who have been subjected to shock treatment and their allies working to expose the damage shock treatment causes. Shock treatment has robbed people of the memories of their lives, their education, skills, passions, relationships, children, significant others, and total sense of oneself.  For decades, when proper rule-making processes were upheld, the voices of those whose lives were destroyed by shock treatment reached those in power and prevented the down-classification of the shock device from happening.

Read & sign the petition ->

Filed Under: Articles

Comments by Shock Survivors & Their Loved Ones – Mad in America

April 4, 2016 By Deborah Schwartzkopff

Lauren Tenney PHD
Lauren Tenney PHD

Lauren Tenney, PhD, MPhil, MPA, is a psychiatric survivor and environmental psychologist.

The #FDAStopTheShockDevice petition has received over 2,200 signatures and 800+ comments. A more thorough analysis of those comments is forthcoming, however, we wanted to offer a glimpse of what people shared. The sixth, seventh, and eighth most common words used in the comments submitted through the petition were “damage,” “barbaric” and “torture.” We must continue the fight to make sure that the FDA hears the people who will be adversely affected by the proposed rule if it becomes an order. There is still a small window of time for you to sign the petition and leave a comment to the FDA.

Read full article in Mad in America ->

Filed Under: Articles

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Static-Electricity "and the ashes will be blown away from the tops of their heads. It is edict! It is writ!"

Welcome

Welcome to the ECT survivors website.

News & Events

  • Don’t swallow everything you’re told as the truth May 22, 2019
  • Failure to speak out against ECT May 17, 2019
  • Family Secrets May 14, 2019
  • Stop Shocking and Torturing Women – Mad in America May 13, 2019
  • Lou Reed: That Which Does Not Kill Us Can Radicalize Us – Mad in America May 6, 2019
  • An open letter to medical professionals April 24, 2019

Pages

  • After care following electroshock
  • Be a Media Spokesperson for ECT Victims
  • Blog
  • Deborah Schwartzkopff on Electroshock
  • Dr. John Breeding Discusses ECT
  • ECT & Children
  • ECT & Informed Consent
  • ECT Destroys Lives
  • ECT Questionnaire
  • ECT Survivor Kenny on Life After Electroshock
  • ECT Survivor Mary Maddock’s story
  • ECT Survivor Stories
  • FDA’s 2011 Hearings on Reclassifying ECT
  • Info about ECT
  • Is Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Effective?
    by Philip Hickey, PhD
  • Medical Records
  • Neurologist John M. Friedberg on ECT
  • No One Should Be Given Shock Treatment
  • Peter Breggin, MD: Electroshock is Brain Trauma
  • Recommended Reading
  • Resources
  • Whistleblowers

About ECT Justice

ECT Justice was created to help advocate for ECT survivors and their families and to gather and disseminate information about known risks of ECT.  If you are an ECT survivor suffering from post-ECT cognitive deficiencies, please know you are not alone.  By sharing your issues, we are able to continue our efforts toward helping ensure that appropriate warnings of the potential risk of permanent injury gets provided to anyone considering ECT. Together we can make a difference.

Recent Posts

  • Don’t swallow everything you’re told as the truth May 22, 2019
  • Failure to speak out against ECT May 17, 2019
  • Family Secrets May 14, 2019
  • Stop Shocking and Torturing Women – Mad in America May 13, 2019
  • Lou Reed: That Which Does Not Kill Us Can Radicalize Us – Mad in America May 6, 2019
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