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American Food and Drug Administration Announces Electroshock may cause Brain Damage and Permanent Memory Loss

Eye Magazine October 12, 2000 Toronto Ontario

Article: Shocking Treatment, by Tom Lyons

"Although the complaints of patients and anti-ECT doctors are dismissed by ECT advocates, they have been given more credence by mainstream health bodies. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently announced that ECT may cause brain damage and permanent memory loss. "

First in World
Shock Free Zone Announced 
Republic of Slovenia

Dear friends,

A very important announcement follows - the first total Ban Shock region on earth has been established in Slovenia, formerly part of Yugoslavia.

Please pass this on to those who have been fighting to ban shock around the world for years.

From Wayne Smith Western Australia Shock Ban Advocate

***** ECT has been abolished in the Republic of Slovenia *****

In the heart of Europe, nestled between Italy, Austria, Croatia and Hungary, ECT is forbidden in Slovenia, which serves as a cradle of sanity, on this topic.

The only caveat, per Igor Spreizer co-chair of 'ALTRA, Committe for Innovation in Mental Health' Ljubljana, Slovenia, is that a small number of patients are referred outside of Slovenia to Zagreb, Croatia where the procedure is still used. Slovenian authorities claim only 3-12 patients are referred each year. This, nonetheless, does make Slovenia, effectively, an ECT Free Zone.

ALTRA (loosely from the word alternative) has been active and effective in advocacy and patient rights. This is not without attention from official psychatry which ALTRA have fought with many times. While ALTRA does not claim responsibility for the Slovenian experience, ALTRA which employs 23 staff, is unquestionably, a major influence in holding this position.

Varification of the Slovenian experience comes from Marinka Kapelj the representative of Slovenia, board member of the European Network of ex Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (ENUSP). ALTRA is hosting this years ENUSP conference in Slovenia, in November. Details at www.enusp.org

Most of ALTRA's resources comes from the State and lotteries commission. Around 300 people support and use ALTRA services.

Slovenia is a strong toe hold, indeed a full foot on the ground for the anti shock movement. It might be that your currency goes a long way in terms of Slovenia. Attend the conference, tell your friend. Support ALTRA.

ALTRA can be reached at: ALTRA Miklosiceva ul. l4 1000 Ljubljana Slovenia Europe

tel.:++386 1 434 73 18

Regards Wayne Smyth West Australia desk

Shock Pamphlet - Withdrawn

Distribution of a pamphlet on electroconvulsive therapy (shock treatment) published by the Mental Health Division of the Health Department of West Australia, has been discontinued, following a complaint.

The pamphlet which was supplied to the public from six State operated shock facilities, the Guardianship and Administration Board, the Office of the Public Advocate and elsewhere, contained false and misleading information which served to recklessly misguide the most vunerable members of the community, and their family and friends.

The pamphlet which carried the government seal, described ECT as a "small electric current," even though the strength of current in ECT, induced a grand-mal-seizure and the Australian Safety Standards gives no such value as "small" to electric current.

The pamphlet also claimed that "There is no medical evidence that the brain is damaged," even though the medical litrature is littered with such instances from both the historic use and the modern method of ECT. In fact, there is a small added risk of brain damage in the modern method, from the anesthetic alone.

The pamphlet and its content which "helps answer questions" was being used by psychiatrists in the process of obtaining 'informed consent' while avoiding the obligation of a truthful disclosure.

As of October 2001, the pamphlet "Electroconvulsive therapy" catalogue No: HP6824 - has been given the official status, "OBSOLETE"

For what it is worth, we are assured by the Health department today by phone, that they will not be publishing any information in the future, on the topic of ECT.

Shock Death Link

Sunday Times newspaper of Western Australia January 21, 2001
By JIM KELLY

SHOCK treatment may have contributed to the sudden death of a psychiatric patient at Graylands Hospital. Giovanni Mario Franco was a physically fit 30-year-old when he was admitted to Graylands in February 1998 to be treated for schizophrenia. But on March 10 he died suddenly in a locked ward under the constant watch of two nurses. Mr Franco had undergone electro convulsive therapy - known as - ECT or shock therapy - a day before he died. At an inquest into the death this week, Deputy State Coroner Evelyn Vickers was told it was possible the shock treatment caused his heart to stop beating. Mr Franco's sister Ima Franco and her husband Tony Goodlich claim they did not know shock therapy was being considered and would have tried to stop it happening if they been aware of the dangers. "In a medical hospital it is customary that family are consulted on risky procedured," she said.

Forensic pathologist Dr Gerard Cadden told the inquest Mr Franco died from undetermined causes but the most likely explanation was cardiac dysrythmia - a catastrophic interference to a normal heartbeat.

Asked if the fatal heart failure could have resulted from the shock therapy Dr Cadden replied: "Yes, it could have caused dysrythmia."

He said the cause could never be conclusively determined, though, because dysrythmia left no medical traces.

Mr Franco had no history of heart problems and an autopsy revealed his heart was normal.

Graylands consultant psychiatrist Dr Joeseph Lee said he gained a second opinion and authorised shock treatment after medication failed to work. He said he told Mr Franco's father that ECT was being considered several days before ECT was administered.

Dr Lee said ECT was a very safe treatment with a reported death rate of between two and four in 100,000.

Independent consultant psychiatrist David Castle, who put the death ratio at one in 10,000, said Mr Franco received appropriate care and that shock therapy was the right choice of treatment.

Mr Franco's family maintain Graylands did not do enough to keep them informed about his treatment, and produced information from the Internet which suggested the real figure for death following ECT was one in 200.

Ima Franco said the family was distraught by periods when they were stopped from visiting Mr Franco, allegedly without explanation.

"The first time (we were prevented from visiting him) he ended up paralysed for three months," she said. "The second time he ended up dead."

ECT Routinely Used. ELECTRO Convulsive Therapy is routinely used in WA psychiatric institutions despite concerns about its safety.

Treatment involves sending bursts of up to 460 volts into the patient's brain.

Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists spokesman Dr Paul Skerritt said ECT was a widely accepted treatment for depression and other conditions.

"This is not a treatment from the dark ages," he said. "It does not do the brain any harm."

End.

The Sunday Times may be contacted at: letters@sundaytimes.newsltd.com

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists at: ranzcp@ranzcp.org

###

FORCED ELECTROSHOCK *HALTED* FOR KATHLEEN GARRETT

HOSPITAL SPOKESPERSON SAYS DUE TO AN  ALERT ISSUED LAST NIGHT BY "DENDRITE", THEY WERE DELUGED BY PUBLIC OUTRAGE OVER INVOLUNTARY ELECTROSHOCK

LITERALLY OVERNIGHT -- IN 16 HOURS -- THE HOSPITAL THAT WAS FORCIBLY ELECTROSHOCKING KATHLEEN GARRETT SUDDENLY ANNOUNCED THEY ARE DISCHARGING HER

THE 66-YEAR-OLD MOM IS SPARED THE PLANNED "TEN TO TWELVE MORE ELECTROSHOCKS"

CAMPAIGN ORGANIZER JULI LAWRRENCE THANKS PUBLIC FOR SUPPORT: "I'M MOVED TO TEARS OF AWE."

Click Here for More on This Story

                                                              ###

Shock Therapy Case (Out of Court Settlement)

Grampian Health Board have settled out of court with 'Lizzie Merrie' ; a Scottish woman who had been suing them for negligence after being damaged by ECT. The Scottish Sunday newspaper Scotland on Sunday (16th August 1998) reported that Grampian Health Board had agreed to pay legal costs and damages (which are believed to be thousands of pounds) although they did not admit liability.

Ms Merrie was given Shock Treatment (ECT) four days after being admitted to Bilbohall Hospital in Elgin in 1992. She claims that ECT wiped out her memory:

"I found it almost impossible to remember anything that happened prior to the ECT treatment"

"I'm also unable to retain and remember new information. If someone tells me something it vanishes from my mind. My memory for years after the treatment is blanked too."

Ms Merrie was so terrified of having a relapse and being given more ECT that she and her husband left Scotland and rebuilt their lives in England.

May Dunsmore - a legal advisor to the Scottish Association of Mental Health - stated that this was an important breakthrough that presented an opportunity for ECT survivors to seek justice.

Alex Doherty, a leading Scottish ECT activist described it as a landmark victory that would open the floodgates for people who have been wrongly subjected to this treatment; and Mental Health Experts are saying that this could trigger a free-for-all as ECT survivors launch damages claims.

Newsflash

"A US Federal Government Agency
Recommends Banning Electroshock"

On about page 7 of this report, you will find:

3. Mental health treatment should be about healing, not punishment. Accordingly, the use of aversive treatments, including physical and chemical restraints, seclusion, and similar techniques that restrict freedom of movement, should be banned. Also, public policy should move toward the elimination of electro-convulsive therapy and psycho surgery as unproven and inherently inhumane procedures. Effective humane alternatives to these techniques exist now and should be promoted.

Click Here for the Full Text

###

ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy), sometimes called shock therapy or electroshock treatment is often prescribed by psychiatrists for use on psychiatric patients.   Currently, in the US approximately 100,000 people per year receive shock treatment (ECT).

In this site you will find hard evidence that shock treatment isn't considered effective at preventing suicide.  You will find out that when honest statistics are kept that almost all patients claim to suffer from some kind of memory loss after shock treatment.  You'll also see that the chances of death after shock treatment may be much higher than reported by psychiatrists.

It's often difficult to find information presenting a view differing from the Psychiatric community.  These pages present the other view, one not motivated by profit, of the truth about shock therapy.  While this viewpoint is totally opposite of what any shock doctor will tell you,  the statistical and anecdotal evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of banning any form of shock treatment or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).