The Food and Drug Administration has missed its deadline to ban the electrical stimulation device (ESD), commonly known as the GED, used for behavior modification on autistic and developmentally disabled individuals, including children. The device delivers a punishment more painful than a commercial stun gun through high amperage and electrode spacing, according to reports cited by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR). The FDA initially attempted to outlaw the device in 2020, but a federal appeals court judge overruled the agency's decision. Congress enacted a law in 2023 granting the FDA authority to ban the device, which the agency proposed doing a year later. The missed deadline has drawn sharp criticism from CCHR, which calls the delay a failure to safeguard the public from both ESDs and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) devices.
Survivors describe the ESD as causing terror and extreme pain. Electrodes attached to the arms, legs, or stomach deliver 60 volts and 15 milliamps of electricity in two-second bursts—sometimes up to 77 times a day. According to the FDA, potential harms include severe pain, skin burns, trauma, tissue damage, suicidality, chronic and acute stress, nightmares, and flashbacks of panic and rage. 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."
In 2012, the case of Andre McCollins made national news when footage showed he was shocked 31 times in one day for refusing to remove his coat. During the ordeal, Andre cried out, "Please stop, please stop." The practice has been described as "torture" by United Nations officials and "punishing" by the American Academy of Pediatrics. After Congress enacted a provision giving the FDA authority to enact the ban, in March 2024, the agency issued a new rule to prohibit 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 noted the device could exacerbate the 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. Mother Jones questioned: "How many times do you have to zap a child before it's torture?"
In 2012, UN Special Rapporteur Juan Mendez declared the practice should end, stating: "The passage of electricity through anybody's body is clearly associated with pain and suffering." 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. Our nation has found excuses for far too long to lock away disabled children and subject them to inhumane practices." 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." She warned that the ban will face resistance from those profiting from the device.
In October 2023, the World Health Organization and UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights guideline, "Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation," called for an end to "the structural violence and harm exercised through and facilitated by mental health laws." CCHR President Jan Eastgate says electroshock practices exemplify this: "The cruel practice needs to end, not only in Massachusetts but universally, and include all electroshock. In an era where there is international condemnation of coercive psychiatric practices, any electrical device used to force changes in behavior, emotion, and mental problems should be prohibited. There is an urgent need to prioritize human rights and dignity over damaging and coercive psychiatric and psychological practices."
