Florida Senate - 2024                                     SB 252
       
       
        
       By Senator Osgood
       
       
       
       
       
       32-00352B-24                                           2024252__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to psychiatric treatments; amending s.
    3         458.325, F.S.; defining the terms “electroconvulsive
    4         treatment” and “psychosurgical procedure”; providing
    5         that only a physician may perform electroconvulsive
    6         treatment and psychosurgical procedures; prohibiting
    7         the performance of electroconvulsive treatment and
    8         psychosurgical procedures on minors; making technical
    9         changes; providing an effective date.
   10  
   11         WHEREAS, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an experimental
   12  technique the efficacy of which has not definitively been proven
   13  and which has dangerous and potentially permanent harmful or
   14  life-threatening side effects, including brain damage and memory
   15  loss, the extent of which is still unknown, and
   16         WHEREAS, literature regarding the administration of ECT on
   17  children and adolescents consists mainly of single case study
   18  reports and uncontrolled studies and does not offer controlled
   19  studies, reliably applied criteria, or valid assessment scales,
   20  and
   21         WHEREAS, psychosurgery is an experimental technique the
   22  efficacy of which has not been proven and which has dangerous
   23  and potentially permanent harmful or life-threatening side
   24  effects, and
   25         WHEREAS, the use of invasive and possibly damaging
   26  treatment without scientific basis in the context of the still
   27  developing neurological systems of children and adolescents
   28  cannot be justified, and
   29         WHEREAS, on January 20, 2000, the National Council on
   30  Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency, first made
   31  recommendations to the President and Congress which included the
   32  following: “Mental health treatment should be about healing, not
   33  punishment. Accordingly, the use of aversive treatments,
   34  including physical and chemical restraints, seclusion, and
   35  similar techniques that restrict freedom of movement, should be
   36  banned. Also, public policy should move toward the elimination
   37  of electroconvulsive therapy and psychosurgery as unproven and
   38  inherently inhumane procedures. Effective humane alternatives to
   39  these techniques exist now and should be promoted,” and
   40  continues to stand by this recommendation 23 years later, NOW,
   41  THEREFORE,
   42  
   43  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   44  
   45         Section 1. Section 458.325, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   46  read:
   47         458.325 Electroconvulsive treatment and psychosurgical
   48  procedures.—
   49         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   50         (a) “Electroconvulsive treatment” means psychiatric
   51  treatment that involves sending an electric current through the
   52  brain while the patient is under anesthesia.
   53         (b) “Psychosurgical procedure” means neurological surgery
   54  used to treat a mental disorder.
   55         (2) Only a physician may perform electroconvulsive
   56  treatment and psychosurgical procedures.
   57         (3) Electroconvulsive treatment and psychosurgical
   58  procedures may not be performed on a person younger than 18
   59  years of age.
   60         (4) Before performing In each case of utilization of
   61  electroconvulsive treatment or a psychosurgical procedure
   62  procedures, a physician must first obtain informed prior written
   63  consent from shall be obtained after disclosure to the patient,
   64  if he or she is competent, or from to the patient’s guardian, if
   65  the patient he or she is a minor or incompetent. The informed
   66  written consent must include disclosure, of the purpose of the
   67  procedure, the common side effects thereof, alternative
   68  treatment modalities, and the approximate number of such
   69  procedures considered necessary and that any consent given may
   70  be revoked by the patient or the patient’s guardian before prior
   71  to or between treatments.
   72         (5)(2) Before a physician may perform electroconvulsive
   73  treatment or a psychosurgical procedure convulsive therapy or
   74  psychosurgery may be administered, another physician not
   75  directly involved with the patient must review the patient’s
   76  treatment record shall be reviewed and agree that the proposed
   77  electroconvulsive treatment or psychosurgical procedure is
   78  appropriate for convulsive therapy or psychosurgery agreed to by
   79  one other physician not directly involved with the patient. Such
   80  agreement must shall be documented in the patient’s treatment
   81  record and shall be signed by both physicians.
   82         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.