In March 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally banned the use of Electric Shock Devices (ESD) in particular contexts, saying the devices provide an “unreasonable and substantial risk of illness or injury.” The FDA’s ban only extended to the use of ESDs for treating self-injurious or aggressive behavior, still allowing their use for the treatment of smoking addiction, among other purposes.
On July 6, 2021, In a 2-1 decision the Washington D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ban stating the FDA’s ban violated federal law by interfering with the authority of healthcare practitioners to practice medicine, paving the way for the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JRC) in Canton, Massachusetts, to continue its electric shock therapy.
In December 2022 the FDA was legally granted the right to ban the device in an end of year omnibus bill. They have finally reissued the ban proposal on March 26, 2024 but this will only ban the GED Device. All other aversives will be allowed to continue.
On September 7, 2023 the Supreme Judicial Court Judge ruled in favor of the JRC in regards to the most recent appeal to the consent decree stating “If the department seeks to get out from under the decree, it must wait for a legislative solution”.
On February 7, 2024, the legislative solution we have been working on, Massachusetts House Bill H.180, was killed by politicians who sat in the hearing and listened to 40 people testify in favor of the bill including many professionals in the field of treatment who have been successful with positive treatment on similar individuals to those at the JRC, survivors of the shock treatment who were told they would be dead without the treatment but are now in positive environments and are flourishing, autistic individuals who have received negative ABA “therapy” , State agency officials, disability organizations etc..
On March 26, 2024, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) again proposed to ban electrical stimulation devices (ESDs) intended for self-injurious behavior (SIB) or aggressive behavior (AB). FDA has determined these devices present an unreasonable and substantial risk of illness or injury that cannot be corrected or eliminated by labeling. The comment period ended on May 28, 2024
On June 11, 2024, Andy Harris, Chair of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration Subcommittee added language that is designed to exclude the JRC from the FDA’s device ban authority.
“SEC. 722. Section 516(a) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. section 360f(a)) is amended—by inserting ‘‘, except for devices that are authorized or ordered for an individual by a court of competent jurisdiction’’
In May of 2024, S.2785 An Act to provide more timely treatment of inpatient mental health care, was completely rewritten and became extremely dangerous. The current bill essentially proposes bypassing the hearing in the event that someone is seen as at risk for “immediate and irreversible” harm thus allowing for forced drugging or extreme treatment, including the GED, without hesitation.