Senate Bill sb0112

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    Florida Senate - 2007                                   SB 112

    By Senator Hill





    1-182-07

  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.

  8  

  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 having unknown mechanisms and without scientific

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    Florida Senate - 2007                                   SB 112
    1-182-07




 1  basis in the context of still-developing neurological systems

 2  of 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 which 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,

15  

16  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

17  

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

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2007                                   SB 112
    1-182-07




 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, 2007.

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 9                          SENATE SUMMARY

10    Prohibits the administration of electroconvulsive therapy
      and psychosurgery on persons younger than 18 years of
11    age.

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