Shock devices that are used to modify the behavior of children and adults may soon be banned in the United States as a Food and Drug Administration panel weigh on the benefits and risks of using the device.
On Thursday, members of the FDA Neurological Devices Panel (NDP) convened and recommended that the FDA ban the use of aversive conditioning electric stimulation devices (ESDs) for modifying the behavior of individuals with self-injurious behavior (SIB) and aggressive behavior.
ESDs have long been used in the U.S. but few are aware of its existence until the Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI), an international advocacy group that promotes disability rights, informed the United Nations about what it described as torture-like treatment of children and adults with developmental disabilities as well as emotional and behavioral disorders at the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JRC) involving the use of shock devices among others.
"Children and adults at JRC are routinely subject to electric shock, receiving multiple skin shocks on their legs, arms, hands, feet, fingers and torsos for behaviors such as getting out of their seats, making noises, swearing or not following staff directions," MDRI reported. "Students never know when they will receive a jolt or where on their body they will be shocked. Some children are subjected to dozens of shocks over the course of a day."
A 2006 New York State Education Department report about the health and safety issues associated with ESDs found that use of the device at the JRC posed physical and psychological harm. Use of the ESD's for instance, resulted in skin burns, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, fear, aggression and social withdrawal.
Based on available data, majority of the panel advisers found that the risks of using the device outweigh its benefits. While use of ESDs has some benefits such as protecting individuals with self-injurious behavior, the use of ESD was associated with substantially injurious risks.
"The FDA has grown concerned that serious risks of using these devices may outweigh the benefits for patients with limited intellectual ability or developmental disabilities, and that they may pose an unreasonable and substantial risk of illness or injury to patients," FDA spokeswoman Jennifer Rodriguez said.
The FDA may not adopt the recommendation of the NDP to ban ESDs but in most cases, the agency does follow the recommendations of its advisory panels.
