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what a shock: fda upholds use of electric devices to "fix" disabilities

we are surprised and saddened to discover that a federal appeals court of washington, D.C overturned the u.s. food and drug administration’s ban on the use of electric shock devices on people with mental disabilities by a massachusetts residential school. this means they are going to continue to allow them to use these harmful and destructive devices, in hopes of altering theses kids disabilities.




earlier in march, the fda made discoveries that proved the "treatment" to be more harmful than beneficial, outweighing the small medical positives that families were led to believe in and therefor moved to have the devices, and techniques banned altogether. which would've made it the agencies third ban, ever. it should be noted that this rotenberg center is the only facility using these devices and methods in the country and though they've filed it as "electrical stimulation devices used for self-injurious or aggressive behavior," the judge rotenberg institution has been one of the most controversial institutions for people with disabilities in the country for half a century. it houses both adult and adolescents at its program.


the two to one ruling that allows the continuation of devices on it's residents happened because the center rebuttled that technically, this does not fall underneath the fda's authority. "we have concluded that the fda lacks the statutory authority to ban a medical device for a particular use,"


in one case in 2002, a student was tied to a restraint board for seven hours and shocked 31 times after he didn't take off his jacket when told to. five years later, another student was shocked 77 times in just one night, after a prank caller instructed staff to do so.


the device is called a graduated electronic decelerator (GED). the fda assembled a panel of experts to study the ged, held hearings, and received thousands of pages of testimonies/ documentation from the school. after two years, the FDA announced it would ban the ged, but took another four years to finalize the rule. the center has a track record of scandal.

though we do not agree, representatives have made claims that incidents as severe as the aforementioned are now in the past "countless changes to our policies and procedures," including "limits on using the device and special training to operate it". the center mentions it only uses shocks with approval from a patient’s family and a local judge.


we hope the best for these residents in the care of this center and their families, this is a hard pill to swallow. video of news story is here

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