FDA Misses Deadline to Ban Electric Shock Device for Disabled, Advocates Condemn Delay
The FDA has failed to meet its deadline to ban a painful electrical stimulation device used on autistic and developmentally disabled individuals, drawing condemnation from human rights groups and survivors who call the practice torture.
The Food and Drug Administration has missed a congressional deadline to ban the electrical stimulation device (ESD), commonly known as the GED, used as behavior modification on autistic and developmentally disabled individuals, including children. The device delivers a punishment more painful than a commercial stun gun, with electrodes attached to the arms, legs, or stomach delivering 60 volts and 15 milliamps of electricity in two-second bursts—sometimes up to 77 times a day.
The FDA first attempted to outlaw the device in 2020, but a federal appeals court judge overruled the agency's decision. Congress enacted a law in 2023 to enable the FDA to legally ban the device, which it proposed doing a year later. The missed deadline has drawn sharp criticism from the Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), which says a ban is long overdue. CCHR President Jan Eastgate stated that the delay reflects a failure to safeguard the public from both ESDs and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) devices.
According to the FDA, potential harms from ESDs include severe pain, skin burns, trauma, tissue damage, suicidality, chronic and acute stress, nightmares and flashbacks of panic and rage. Survivors report terror and extreme pain. One survivor testified: "I would ask God to make my heart stop because I did not want to live when that (electric shock) was happening to me." Another stated: "I just want to die and make it (electric shock) stop."
The practice has been described as "torture" by United Nations officials and "punishing" by the American Academy of Pediatrics. In 2012, the case of Andre McCollins made national news when footage showed he was shocked 31 times in one day for refusing to take his coat off. During his ordeal, Andre cried out, "Please stop, please stop."
After Congress enacted a provision giving the FDA the authority it was previously lacking to enact the ban, in March 2024, the agency issued a new rule to ban the device. At that time, American Academy of Pediatrics President Benjamin Hoffman warned that using ESDs to deliver high-voltage shocks to patients exhibiting "self-injurious or aggressive behaviors" placed recipients "at high risk for both physical and psychological traumas" and could exacerbate the very behaviors it aims to correct.
CCHR submitted comments supporting a comprehensive ban on all behavioral use. Over 100 advocacy groups, including the Stop the Shock Coalition, have consistently pushed for the ban. In 2007, Mother Jones exposed abuses at a Massachusetts facility using the device and charging $220,000 per student annually. Eight states and New York City had been sending children to the facility, for which New York paid $30 million per year. Six children had died in the facility's care.
In 2022, CCHR urged Massachusetts legislators to ban the practice under torture statutes rather than waiting for the FDA. New York State Senator Jabari Brisport stated, "No facility that thinks it's acceptable to electro-shock children can be trusted with their care." Nancy Weiss, a retired professor and longtime advocate, emphasized: "You're not allowed to use electric shock on prisoners or prisoners of war or convicted terrorists."
In October 2023, the World Health Organization and UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights guideline called for an end to "the structural violence and harm exercised through and facilitated by mental health laws." Eastgate says electroshock practices exemplify this: "The cruel practice needs to end, not only in Massachusetts but universally, and include all electroshock."