Latest news with #ECT
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Book Review: 'The Sleep Room' is the harrowing story of psychiatric care in the 1960s
Book Review: 'The Sleep Room' is the harrowing story of psychiatric care in the 1960s In the 1960s, a hospital in London held a ward full of women who suffered from a range of mental disorders. The women in this 'sleep room' were subjected to various medical procedures, including electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, and, at times, a lobotomy, without their consent. In "The Sleep Room: A Sadistic Psychiatrist and the Women Who Survived Him,' Jon Stock tells the harrowing history of the British doctor who subjected them to medical abuse and gives voice to those who survived him. With interwoven firsthand testimony from surviving patients and rigorous research, Stock provides a haunting account of what the psychiatrist did to his patients without their knowledge. Throughout the book Stock also works to hold the medical establishment accountable for the neglect that occurred, but at times can simplify the complexities of psychiatric care during the '60s that most likely led to the abuse endured by many patients. ADVERTISEMENT While the switching between patient stories, history and research can create some confusion for the reader, the patient testimonies allows Stock to deliver an emotionally powerful narrative that is equally as disturbing. Written with nuance and tact, the 'The Sleep Room' is a chilling exposé into psychiatric care that will resonate deeply readers and, especially, true crime fans. ___ AP book reviews: Fernanda Figueroa, The Associated Press
New Paper
18-07-2025
- Business
- New Paper
Authorities helping 29 Jollibean workers recover unpaid salaries
Soya milk chain Jollibean has agreed to pay the salaries it owed 22 employees in instalments and the Ministry of Manpower is investigating the company for offences under the Employment Act. The Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) has also ordered the employer to pay salaries to three employees while another four cases are still either undergoing mediation or waiting for a decision by ECT. This brings the total of workers receiving help for unpaid salaries to 29, said the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) and MOM in a reply to The Straits Times on July 12. The agencies were responding to reports of unpaid salaries and late payments that occurred sporadically since December 2024. MOM will continue to extend help to affected employees. "We would like to remind employers to pay salaries and CPF (Central Provident Fund) contributions on time to their employees," TADM and MOM said in the joint statement. They added that employees in Singapore who are not paid salaries on time can file their claims with TADM, which will assist workers in recovering their salaries either through mediation or referring the case to the ECT, which has legal powers to order employers to pay owed salaries to their workers. Employees who require assistance can contact TADM at Jollibean Foods director Shahrul Nazrin Mohd Dahlan was reported in the media to have said that the company has a new owner and it is working closely with the authorities to resolve salary issues by the end of July. A counter staff The Straits Times spoke to on July 11 said her wages had been unpaid for May and June, and her salary for December 2024 delayed by around three weeks. She had to dip into her savings for rent and personal expenses, said the Chinese national in her late 40s, adding that other front-line staff were also owed salaries. "There was no forewarning; It would have been reassuring if the management had at least warned us that the company was struggling but hopes to turn things around under new owners." The agencies were responding to reports of unpaid salaries and late payments that occurred sporadically since December 2024. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG Employment lawyer Goh Seow Hui told The Straits Times that workers are taking a risk if they stay on their jobs despite salary arrears that a company promises to resolve after an ownership transition. "The employer's promises do not improve the worker's legal position. If there are better alternative opportunities available, the worker is better off resigning and making a legal claim for the salary arrears." An ongoing ownership transition is not a justifiable reason for salary arrears, added Ms Goh, a partner at Bird & Bird ATMD.
Straits Times
13-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
MOM, tripartite body, employment tribunals helping 29 Jollibean workers recover unpaid salaries
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox SINGAPORE – Soya milk chain Jollibean has agreed to pay the salaries it owed 22 employees in instalments and the Ministry of Manpower is investigating the company for offences under the Employment Act. The Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) has also ordered the employer to pay salaries to three employees while another four cases are still either undergoing mediation or waiting for a decision by ECT. This brings the total of workers receiving help for unpaid salaries to 29, said the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) and MOM in a reply to The Straits Times on July 12. The agencies were responding to reports of unpaid salaries and late payments that occurred sporadically since December 2024. MOM will continue to extend help to affected employees. 'We would like to remind employers to pay salaries and CPF (Central Provident Fund) contributions on time to their employees,' TADM and MOM said in the joint statement. They added that employees in Singapore who are not paid salaries on time can file their claims with TADM, which will assist workers in recovering their salaries either through mediation or referring the case to the ECT, which has legal powers to order employers to pay owed salaries to their workers. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Government looking at enhancing laws around vaping to tackle issue of drug-laced vapes in Singapore Singapore Why the vape scourge in Singapore concerns everyone Singapore I lost my daughter to Kpod addiction: Father of 19-year-old shares heartbreak and lessons Singapore Organised crime groups pushing drug-laced vapes in Asia including Singapore: UN Asia Why China's high-end hotels are setting up food stalls outside their doors Singapore Geothermal energy present in S'pore, but greater study on costs, stability needed, say experts Singapore Prison school to NUS: At 36, former drug abuser finds it's never too late to get a degree Singapore Driver arrested after 66-year-old woman dies in car crash at Geylang pasar malam Employees who require assistance can contact TADM at Jollibean Foods director Shahrul Nazrin Mohd Dahlan was reported in the media to have said that the company has a new owner and it is working closely with the authorities to resolve salary issues by the end of July. A counter staff The Straits Times spoke to on July 11 said her wages had been unpaid for May and June, and her salary for December 2024 delayed by around three weeks. She had to dip into her savings for rent and personal expenses, said the Chinese national in her late 40s, adding that other front-line staff were also owed salaries. 'There was no forewarning; It would have been reassuring if the management had at least warned us that the company was struggling but hopes to turn things around under new owners.' The agencies were responding to reports of unpaid salaries and late payments that occurred sporadically since December 2024. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG Employment lawyer Goh Seow Hui told The Straits Times that workers are taking a risk if they stay on their jobs despite salary arrears that a company promises to resolve after an ownership transition. 'The employer's promises do not improve the worker's legal position. If there are better alternative opportunities available, the worker is better off resigning and making a legal claim for the salary arrears.' An ongoing ownership transition is not a justifiable reason for salary arrears, added Ms Goh, a partner at Bird & Bird ATMD.
Associated Press
30-06-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
CCHR wants electroshocking children prohibited under child abuse laws
LOS ANGELES, Calif., June 30, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Child and adolescent psychiatrists have issued a policy statement urging broader access to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for children and adolescents despite growing international condemnation of the practice on minors. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Human Rights Office have called for an outright ban on ECT for children, explicitly stating: 'ECT is not recommended for children, and this should be prohibited through legislation.'[1] The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), a mental health industry watchdog, condemned the statement as 'medically reckless, legally dangerous, and morally indefensible.' CCHR is demanding federal and state lawmakers move urgently to outlaw the electroshocking of children, classifying it as a form of child abuse. ECT, also known as shock treatment, sends up to 460 volts of electricity through the brain to induce a grand mal seizure. This disruption of the brain's electrical activity alters its structure and function, an especially serious risk to the developing brains of children. Yet child psychiatrists not only call for expanded use of ECT on minors but also oppose 'any efforts—legal, legislative, and otherwise—to block access to ECT.' Through US Freedom of Information Act requests, CCHR uncovered that children as young as five have been electroshocked. The full scope remains hidden due to the lack of national transparency requirements on ECT usage. Internationally, some countries have already banned ECT entirely (e.g., Slovenia and Luxembourg). In the U.S., California prohibits it under age 12, and Texas under 16. In Western Australia, ECT on minors under 14 is illegal, with criminal penalties—including jail time—for administering it to children. CCHR was instrumental in helping secure that law, along with state bans in the US. Disturbingly, a child and adolescent psychiatry group has also called for more research involving ECT on youth, potentially exposing children under age 13 to an unproven and highly invasive procedure. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) restricts its use to individuals aged 13 and older for limited diagnoses. The psychiatry group's statement fails to disclose that brain damage is a known risk of ECT. Yet, the American Psychiatric Association concedes that 'ECT can result in persistent or permanent memory loss.' The joint WHO/UN report adds: 'People being offered ECT should also be made aware of all its risks and potential short- and long-term harmful effects, such as memory loss and brain damage.' [2] In June 2024, the California Supreme Court ruled that an ECT device manufacturer must warn doctors of the risks of brain damage and permanent memory loss.[3] In 2018, a US District Court judge found there was sufficient evidence for a jury to conclude that an ECT device could cause brain injury.[4] Neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu—known for discovering chronic traumatic encephalopathy ( brain diseases or damage) in football players—publicly condemned ECT, stating: ' The amounts of electrical energy introduced to the human brain by ECT machines can be nothing but harmful and dangerous…. The patient who receives ECT therapy will manifest permanent and cumulative brain injury, which can be progressive over time and result in chronic encephalopathies and brain degeneration.' [5] Despite pediatric psychiatry's claim that ECT is 'safe and effective,' the FDA has never required manufacturers to prove ECT's safety or efficacy through clinical trials.[6] Internationally renowned researcher Prof. John Read reports that only 11 placebo-controlled trials of ECT have ever been conducted—all prior to 1985, and all deeply flawed. 'None found any benefit beyond the end of treatment,' he stated. Further, children's developing brains are 'particularly susceptible to the memory loss caused by ECT.' [7] Legal precedent exists for holding professionals and psychiatric facilities accountable for misleading parents about the safety and nature of treatment. In June 2024, an Arizona jury awarded $2.5 million in punitive damages to the family of a teen girl who suffered coercion and abuse at a troubled teen treatment facility. They successfully argued that they were misled by marketing materials portraying the program as therapeutic and safe, when it was abusive.[8] CCHR says that this same legal framework must apply to misleading promotion of ECT's benefits to desperate parents. Failing to disclose the full risks of ECT should be subject to the same scrutiny and liability as cases in the troubled teen treatment industry. CCHR asserts that electroshocking should not only be banned nationwide, but if administered to children, should be held accountable under child abuse laws. Jan Eastgate, president of CCHR International, stated, 'The electroshocking of children is without moral or scientific justification and should be indefensible under the law. As international bodies condemn it, and legal rulings establish precedent for holding programs accountable for misleading parents, the U.S. must act. We urge lawmakers at all levels to ban ECT, especially on minors, and define it as a form of child abuse.' CCHR, which was established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and professor of psychiatry, Dr. Thomas Szasz, recommends parents watch its documentary, Therapy or Torture: The Truth About Electroshock, with expert opinions about how ECT damages minds. To learn more, visit: Sources: [1] World Health Organization, OHCHR, 'Guidance on Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation,' pp. 58 & 59 [2] [3] [4] 'ECT Litigation Update: Are Patients Being Warned of Brain Damage Risk?' MAD, 13 June 2019 [5] [6] [7] [8] MULTIMEDIA: Image link for media: Image caption: Through US Freedom of Information Act requests, CCHR uncovered that children as young as five have been electroshocked. The full scope remains hidden due to the lack of national transparency requirements on ECT usage. NEWS SOURCE: Citizens Commission on Human Rights Keywords: AP, ban ECT, child abuse laws, ECT usage, Citizens Commission on Human Rights, CCHR International, electroshock, Jan Eastgate, LOS ANGELES, Calif. This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (Citizens Commission on Human Rights) who is solely responsibile for its accuracy, by Send2Press® Newswire. Information is believed accurate but not guaranteed. Story ID: S2P127282 APNF0325A To view the original version, visit: © 2025 Send2Press® Newswire, a press release distribution service, Calif., USA. RIGHTS GRANTED FOR REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY ANY LEGITIMATE MEDIA OUTLET - SUCH AS NEWSPAPER, BROADCAST OR TRADE PERIODICAL. MAY NOT BE USED ON ANY NON-MEDIA WEBSITE PROMOTING PR OR MARKETING SERVICES OR CONTENT DEVELOPMENT. Disclaimer: This press release content was not created by nor issued by the Associated Press (AP). Content below is unrelated to this news story.
Boston Globe
29-06-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
Max Fink, champion of electroconvulsive therapy, dies at 102
'Many severely depressed patients are maintained for weeks, for months and even years on antidepressant drugs,' he told a conference on depression in Philadelphia in 1988. 'Are we not unfair when we do this to our patients when ECT remains an active and excellent treatment?' He first witnessed the use of ECT in 1952, on his first day as a neurology and psychiatry resident at Hillside Hospital (now Zucker Hillside Hospital, a part of Northwell) in the New York City borough of Queens. One by one, he watched as five patients — under restraints, with rubber bite-blocks in their mouths and electrodes applied to their temples — received enough electrical current to induce a grand mal seizure. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Observing a full grand mal seizure in each patient jarred me,' he wrote in 2017 in an unpublished memoir for Stony Brook University in New York, where he worked for many years. But over the next few months, he said, 'I had learned that ECT effectively reduced suicide thoughts, relieved negativism, aggression, depressed and manic moods. Of the hospital populations, the patients treated with electroshock improved the most.' Advertisement Although Dr. Fink was convinced of ECT's positive effects, others in the psychiatric profession weren't. Advertisement 'Max was trained in an era when the main theme of psychiatry was orthodox Freudian psychoanalysis,' said Dr. Charles Nemeroff, chair of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, who collaborated with Dr. Fink on a paper about ECT. 'But he was part of a small group of academic psychiatrists who recognized that severe depression and schizophrenia were brain diseases.' Dr. Fink, author of many scientific articles about ECT and founding editor of the quarterly Convulsive Therapy (now The Journal of ECT), faced opposition from other doctors, Scientologists and protesters at conferences. 'We had a problem getting this accepted by the public, and I was protested at meetings across the United States and Europe,' he said in 2019, when he received an award for lifetime achievement from the Institute of Living, a psychiatric center in Hartford, Connecticut. Some opponents of ECT said it was ineffective or left people with memory loss and trauma. Others described it as a brutal practice, an enduring view reinforced by the 1975 film 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,' in which a patient at a psychiatric hospital, played by Jack Nicholson, undergoes ECT without anesthesia as a punishment for his rebelliousness. In his book 'Electroshock: Healing Mental Illness' (1999), Dr. Fink wrote that 'the picture of a pleading patient being dragged to a treatment room, where he is forcibly administered electric currents, as his jaw clenches, his back arches, his body shakes, all the while he is held down by burly attendants, may be dramatic but it is wholly false. Patients aren't coerced into treatment.' Advertisement Critics of Dr. Fink's passionate support of ECT said he downplayed the risks, including memory loss and cognitive impairment. 'One of Fink's books describes going to get ECT as no more significant than going to the dentist, which I thought was pretty glib,' said Jonathan Sadowsky, author of 'Electroconvulsive Therapy in America: The Anatomy of a Medical Controversy' (2017). 'And there are a lot of scientific studies about memory loss from ECT.' Dr. Fink insisted that antidepressants and antipsychotics could cause more damage, including memory loss, than ECT did. Nemeroff — who described Dr. Fink as 'an irascible, dominant figure' as well as 'the world's leader in electroconvulsive therapy' — said Dr. Fink's focus was firmly on the effectiveness of the treatment. 'He was a zealot, no question about it,' Nemeroff said. 'He thought ECT was a panacea.' ECT's effectiveness in treating serious mental illness has been recognized by, among others, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association and the National Institute of Mental Health. But although it is useful for treating serious mental illness, it does not prevent recurrence. Consequently, most people treated with ECT need to continue the procedure or use another type of maintenance treatment. Maximilian Fink was born Jan. 16, 1923, in Vienna. His father, Julius, was a doctor in general practice who was trained in radiology. His mother, Bronislava (Lowenthal) Fink, known as Bronia, left medical school at the University of Vienna after three years; later, in the mid-1950s, she became a social worker. Max and his mother immigrated to the United States in 1924, joining his father there. (His brother, Sidney, who was born in 1927, also became a doctor, specializing in gastroenterology.) Advertisement As a boy, Max developed X-ray film in his father's office. He started college at 16, at New York University's University Heights campus in the Bronx, and graduated in three years, with a bachelor's degree in biology, in 1942. After earning his medical degree at the NYU College of Medicine (now the Grossman School of Medicine) three years later and interning at Morrisania Hospital in the Bronx, he served in the Army from 1946-47, attending the School of Military Neuropsychiatry. After his discharge from the Army, he worked as a surgeon on three passenger ships. From 1948-53, Dr. Fink served as a resident at Montefiore, Bellevue, Hillside and Mount Sinai hospitals. From 1954-62, he ran the division of experimental psychiatry at Hillside. He later served as director of the Missouri Institute of Psychiatry and as a professor of psychiatry at New York Medical College. From 1972-97, he was a professor of psychiatry and neurology at Stony Brook University, where he later became a professor emeritus. Dr. Fink's research had unusual breadth. He showed early in his research career that penicillin, still an experimental drug, was better than sulfa for patients with pleural cavity infections. He studied the pharmacology of LSD, marijuana and opioids; used electroencephalograms, or EEG tests, to measure the changes caused by electroshock, insulin coma and psychoactive drugs; and wrote about the effects of changing the placements of electrodes in ECT. He was also among the scholars who successfully argued for the recognition of catatonia — a syndrome characterized by irregular movements and immobility — by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, as separate from schizophrenia. Advertisement Dr. Fink's other books include 'Convulsive Therapy: Theory and Practice' (1979), 'Electroshock: Restoring the Mind' (1999), 'Ethics in Electroconvulsive Therapy' (2004, with Jan-Otto Ottosson) and 'The Madness of Fear: A History of Catatonia' (2018, with Edward Shorter). He wrote or collaborated on about 800 scientific papers, including one on catatonia that was accepted for publication by Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry shortly before his death. In addition to his son, Dr. Fink is survived by two daughters, Rachel and Linda, and four grandchildren. His wife, Martha (Gross) Fink, died in 2016. In a 2018 interview for Stony Brook, Dr. Fink reflected on his career and its influence. 'I think I was very lucky,' he said. 'However I worked it out, I was always able to find projects and kept busy.' He later added: 'We've saved lives knowingly. It's been a very interesting life.' This article originally appeared in
