Am J Psychiatry 1984; 141:1349-1355
Copyright © 1984 by American Psychiatric Association
Medical, judicial, and statutory regulation of ECT in the United States
WJ Winslade, EH Liston, JW Ross and KD Weber
The standards for ECT recommended by an APA task force report and those
embodied in federal court orders and state statutes and regulations are
compared. The authors conclude that there is serious boundary and role
confusion owing to progressive intrusion of state authority into areas
traditionally held to lie in the domain of medical judgment and clinical
care. In spite of comprehensive safeguards promulgated by the psychiatric
community, overregulation by legislatures and courts is commonplace,
interposing law between physicians and patients and resulting in delays or
denials of service while failing to resolve critical legal issues involving
competence and consent.
