Senate Bill sb1704
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Florida Senate - 2006 SB 1704
By Senator Hill
1-1307-06 See HB 831
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to electroconvulsive therapy
3 and psychosurgical procedures; amending s.
4 458.325, F.S.; prohibiting the administration
5 of electroconvulsive therapy and psychosurgery
6 on persons younger than 18 years of age;
7 providing an effective date.
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9 WHEREAS, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an
10 experimental technique with unknown mechanism of action the
11 efficacy of which has never been proven and which has
12 dangerous and potentially permanent harmful or
13 life-threatening side effects, including brain damage and
14 memory loss, the extent of which have never been tested, and
15 WHEREAS, literature regarding the administration of ECT
16 on children and adolescents consists mainly of single case
17 reports and uncontrolled studies and offers no controlled
18 studies, no reliably applied criteria, and no valid assessment
19 scales, and
20 WHEREAS, ECT devices are classified as Class III
21 devices by the Federal Drug Administration, the most stringent
22 regulatory category covering "those [devices] for which
23 insufficient information exists to [ensure] safety and
24 effectiveness" and "which present a potential, unreasonable
25 risk of illness or injury," and
26 WHEREAS, psychosurgery is an experimental technique the
27 efficacy of which has never been proven and which has
28 dangerous, permanent, and potentially life-threatening side
29 effects, and
30 WHEREAS, the use of invasive and possibly damaging
31 treatment with unknown mechanisms and without scientific basis
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2006 SB 1704
1-1307-06 See HB 831
1 in the context of still-developing neurological systems of
2 children and adolescents cannot be justified, and
3 WHEREAS, on January 20, 2000, the National Council on
4 Disability, an independent federal agency, made
5 recommendations to the President and Congress that included
6 the following: "Mental health treatment should be about
7 healing, not punishment. Accordingly, the use of aversive
8 treatments, including physical and chemical restraints,
9 seclusion, and similar techniques that restrict freedom of
10 movement, should be banned. Also, public policy should move
11 toward the elimination of electro-convulsive therapy and
12 psycho surgery as unproven and inherently inhumane procedures.
13 Effective humane alternatives to these techniques exist now
14 and should be promoted," NOW, THEREFORE,
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16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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18 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 458.325, Florida
19 Statutes, is amended, and subsection (3) is added to that
20 section, to read:
21 458.325 Electroconvulsive and psychosurgical
22 procedures.--
23 (1) In each case of utilization of electroconvulsive
24 or psychosurgical procedures, prior written consent shall be
25 obtained after disclosure to the patient, if he or she is
26 competent, or to the patient's guardian, if he or she is a
27 minor or incompetent, of the purpose of the procedure, the
28 common side effects thereof, alternative treatment modalities,
29 and the approximate number of such procedures considered
30 necessary and that any consent given may be revoked by the
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2006 SB 1704
1-1307-06 See HB 831
1 patient or the patient's guardian prior to or between
2 treatments.
3 (3) The administration of electroconvulsive therapy
4 and psychosurgery on persons younger than 18 years of age is
5 prohibited.
6 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.
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