“The cruel practice needs to end, not only in Massachusetts but universally, and include all electroshock.” – Jan Eastgate, President CCHR International

Hundreds remain traumatized by electro-skin shocks, as the FDA delays banning a device described by the United Nations and patients as torture. The inaction highlights the broader failure to also ban electroshock (ECT) devices.

By Jan Eastgate
President CCHR International
June 12, 2026

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has passed its deadline to ban the electrical stimulation device (ESD), commonly known as the GED, used for behavior control on individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities, including children.[1] The device delivers a punishment more painful than a commercial stun gun through high amperage and electrode spacing.[2] This shock “treatment” has faced legal challenges for years. The FDA began the process of banning it in 2013 and outlawed it in 2020, but a federal appeals court judge overruled the agency’s decision.[3] In March 2024, the FDA proposed a new rule for public comment. CCHR International submitted comments in strong support of the ban, as did many other advocacy groups.[4] More than two years later, the ongoing delay reflects the FDA’s long history of failure to protect the public from both ESDs and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT, or electroshock) devices.

Survivors describe lives marked by terror and extreme pain. Electrodes are attached to the arms, legs, or stomach and 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.[5]

Testimony from survivors reveals the profound mental impact:

• “I would ask God to make my heart stop because I did not want to live when that (electric shock) was happening to me.”

• “I just want to die and make it (electric shock) stop.”[6]

• United Nations officials described the practice as “torture,” and the American Academy of Pediatrics called it “punishing.”[7]

When the FDA originally banned the ESD in 2020, the Judge Rotenberg Center in Massachusetts—the only U.S. facility using it—appealed. A federal court overturned the ban in 2021, largely because the FDA’s wording extended to the practice instead of limiting it to the device. Congress responded by enacting an amendment in 2023 that gave the FDA the authority to implement the ban.[8]

In March 2024, the FDA proposed a new rule to ban such devices.[9] 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.” worsening of self-injurious and aggressive behaviors—exacerbating the very behaviors it aims to correct.[10]

The agency affirmed that this vulnerable population is “entitled to the public health protections under the FD&C Act.”[11]

Key Milestones in the Fight to Ban Shock Devices

Aversive conditioning devices were on the market prior to the passage of the FDA Medical Device Amendments on May 28, 1976. In 1979, they were classified as Class II devices and regulated under the premarket notification. It means the GED was never approved with clinical trials but “cleared” for use.[12]

• 2007: Mother Jones exposed that eight states were sending autistic, intellectually disabled, and emotionally troubled children to the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC). The article questioned: “How many times do you have to zap a child before it’s torture?” JRC charged $220,000 per student annually, funded by states and school districts. Six children had died in its care, prompting lawsuits and investigations.[13]

• 2007: New York state investigators issued a scathing report comparing conditions to a high school version of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.[14] New York City had been sending children there at a cost of $30 million per year.[15]

• 2010: Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI) filed an urgent appeal to the UN Special Rapporteur. MDRI President Laurie Ahern stated: “The cruelty perpetrated against children and adults at JRC is psychological and physical abuse, couched in the name of ‘treatment.’”[16]

• 2012: FDA put JRC on notice that they had modified the device from that originally cleared and needed to submit a new application, with a meeting scheduled in 2013 to discuss this. The meeting was canceled. [17]

• February 2012: Fox News and other media showed footage of Andre McCollins, 18, who was shocked for refusing to take his coat off when instructed to. He was tied to a restraint board, face down, for seven hours with a helmet placed on his head. Each time he screamed or tensed up, he was shocked—31 times. He was left catatonic with open sores and was hospitalized for five weeks as a result. During the torturous ordeal Andre cried out, “Please stop, please stop.” A decade later, his mother testified, saying that since that brutal day, Andre was never the same again.[18]

• 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.” The UN Committee Against Torture also called for the ESD to be outlawed.[19]

• April 2014: The ACLU and allies testified before the FDA Neurological Devices advisory panel, which recommended banning the devices.[20]

• April 25, 2016: After receiving over 1000 comments, many calling for a ban, the FDA proposed banning the GED device, determining that it presented a substantial and unreasonable risk.[21]

• January 2019: The American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section adopted a resolution urging states to define child torture as a felony, even without serious physical injury.[22]

• 2020: FDA banned the device, concluding that it had the legal authority to ban a device for a particular purpose.[23]

• July 2021: U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned the ban of the device when used for self-injurious or aggressive behavior, asserting the FDA had overstepped its jurisdiction and interfered with “the practice of medicine.”[24]

• October 2021: Seven U.S. senators, led by Sen. Chris Murphy, urged the FDA and Department of Justice to protect children and adults with disabilities.[25]

• 2022: CCHR International urged Massachusetts legislators to ban the practice under torture statutes rather than wait for the slow-moving FDA. Congress included a provision in its 2022 omnibus bill giving the FDA the authority it was previously lacking to enact the ban.[26] Thirty-four organizations wrote in support of the reform.[27]

• 2023: Massachusetts Representative Danielle Gregoire introduced House Bill 180, “An Act regarding the use of aversive therapy,” to prohibit aversive therapies that cause “obvious signs of physical pain, including, but not limited to, hitting, pinching, and electric shock for the purposes of changing the behavior of the person.” CCHR issued a press release in support of the bill.[28] Astoundingly, on September 5, 2024, the bill “accompanied a study order” (H.4711) and effectively died without advancing to a vote or further action.[29]

• March 2024: The FDA again proposed banning electrical stimulation devices. CCHR International submitted comments supporting a comprehensive ban on all behavioral use, citing lack of consent and the U.S. ratification of the UN Convention Against Torture.[30]

In October 2023, the World Health Organization and UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights guideline, “Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation,” detailed the need to end abuses: “Widespread human rights violations and harm caused by mental health systems, and enabled by mental health laws, has led to a legacy of trauma that impacts many individuals…. Indeed, the structural violence and harm exercised through and facilitated by mental health laws are, in themselves, forms of historical trauma.”[31] JRC’s practices using shock treatment for behavior control exemplify this legacy of violence and torture—and should never have been legitimized as “medical practice.”

Experts and Legislators Condemn the Torturous Practice

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.”[32]

Mike Schweinsburg of the 504 Democratic Club noted, “Years ago, New York State banned the use of electroshock on animals. Yet today, children and young adults with disabilities are subjected to what the UN defines as torture.”[33]

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.[34]

CCHR, alongside the Stop the Shock Coalition and over 100 advocacy groups, continues to push for the ban.[35]

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.

Since 1969, CCHR has called for the elimination of all coercive electrical stimulation and all electroshock devices, viewing them as torture.

[1] O. Rose Broderick, “As FDA misses deadline on electric shock ban, disability advocates speak out,” Stat News, 1 June 2026, https://www.statnews.com/2026/06/01/fda-misses-deadline-electric-shock-ban-disability-advocates-speak-out/; Julia Métraux, “FDA May Finally Make It Illegal to Shock Autistic Kids as Punishment,” Mother Jones, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/fda-electric-shock-disabled-autistic-children-punishment/

[2] https://www.cchrint.org/2020/07/24/cchr-condemns-fda-stay-on-ban-of-skin-shocking-students-for-behavioral-control/; “United Nations calls it torture, FDA is looking at banning it, JRC calls it treatment,” ADAPT, https://adapt.org/united-nations-calls-it-torture-fda-is-looking-at-banning-it-jrc-calls-it-treatment/; Paul Kix, “The Shocking Truth,” The Boston Globe, July 2008, https://www.bostonmagazine.com/2008/06/17/the-shocking-truth/; Ed Pilkington, “Founder of electric shock autism treatment school forced to quit: Institute uses punishment machine to discipline severely autistic and emotionally disturbed children by giving them electric shocks,” The Guardian, 25 May 2011, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/25/electric-shock-autism-treatment-school/;

[3] “Banned Devices; Electrical Stimulation Devices for Self-Injurious or Aggressive Behavior,” Food and Drug Administration Final Rule, 6 March 2020, Federal Register, 85 FR 13312, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/03/06/2020-04328/banned-devices-electrical-stimulation-devices-for-self-injurious-or-aggressive-behavior; O. Rose Broderick, “As FDA misses deadline on electric shock ban, disability advocates speak out,” Stat News, 1 June 2026, https://www.statnews.com/2026/06/01/fda-misses-deadline-electric-shock-ban-disability-advocates-speak-out/

[4] “Banned Devices; Electrical Stimulation Devices for Self-Injurious or Aggressive Behavior,” Food and Drug Administration Final Rule, 6 Mar. 2020, Federal Register, 85 FR 13312, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/03/26/2024-06037/banned-devices-proposal-to-ban-electrical-stimulation-devices-for-self-injurious-or-aggressive

[5] https://www.cchrint.org/2020/07/24/cchr-condemns-fda-stay-on-ban-of-skin-shocking-students-for-behavioral-control/; Paul Kix, “The Shocking Truth,” The Boston Globe, July 2008, https://www.bostonmagazine.com/2008/06/17/the-shocking-truth/; “Founder of electric shock autism treatment school forced to quit: Institute uses punishment machine to discipline severely autistic and emotionally disturbed children by giving them electric shocks,” The Guardian, 25 May 2011, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/25/electric-shock-autism-treatment-school; “Banned Devices; Electrical Stimulation Devices for Self-Injurious or Aggressive Behavior,” Food and Drug Administration Final Rule, 6 Mar. 2020, Federal Register, 85 FR 13312, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/03/06/2020-04328/banned-devices-electrical-stimulation-devices-for-self-injurious-or-aggressive-behavior  

[6] “United Nations calls it torture, FDA is looking at banning it, JRC calls it treatment,” ADAPT, https://adapt.org/united-nations-calls-it-torture-fda-is-looking-at-banning-it-jrc-calls-it-treatment/;

[7] O. Rose Broderick, “As FDA misses deadline on electric shock ban, disability advocates speak out,” Stat News, 1 June 2026, https://www.statnews.com/2026/06/01/fda-misses-deadline-electric-shock-ban-disability-advocates-speak-out/

[8] https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2023/01/05/congress-approves-boost-to-special-ed-disability-programs/30186/

[9] “FDA Proposes New Ban of Electrical Stimulation Devices for Self-Injurious or Aggressive Behavior,” FDA, 25 Mar. 2024, https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/medical-devices-news-and-events/fda-proposes-new-ban-electrical-stimulation-devices-self-injurious-or-aggressive-behavior; Julia Métraux, “FDA May Finally Make It Illegal to Shock Autistic Kids as Punishment,” Mother Jones, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/fda-electric-shock-disabled-autistic-children-punishment/

[10] “Trump may finally make it illegal to shock autistic kids as punishment – after kicking the issue down the road,” The Independent, 28 Apr. 2026, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/autism-electro-shock-ban-fda-b2966489.html

[11] https://www.cchrint.org/2020/07/24/cchr-condemns-fda-stay-on-ban-of-skin-shocking-students-for-behavioral-control/; Banned Devices; Electrical Stimulation Devices for Self-Injurious or Aggressive Behavior,” Food and Drug Administration Final Rule, 6 March 2020, Federal Register, 85 FR 13312, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/03/06/2020-04328/banned-devices-electrical-stimulation-devices-for-self-injurious-or-aggressive-behavior

[12] Véronique Li, Faraz Siddiqui and Jeff Gibbs, “Judge Rotenberg Educational Center v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration,” Food & Drug Law Institute, p. 13

[13] https://www.cchrint.org/2024/08/02/mental-health-watchdog-urges-fda-to-ban-electroshock-device/; Jennifer Gonnerman, “The School of Shock,” Mother Jones, 20 Aug. 2007, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2007/08/school-shock/

[14] https://www.cchrint.org/2024/08/02/mental-health-watchdog-urges-fda-to-ban-electroshock-device/; Jennifer Gonnerman, “The School of Shock,” Mother Jones, 20 Aug. 2007, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2007/08/school-shock/

[15] https://www.cchrint.org/2024/08/02/mental-health-watchdog-urges-fda-to-ban-electroshock-device/; Heather Vogell and Annie Waldman, “New York City Sends $30 Million a Year to School With History of Giving Kids Electric Shocks,” ProPublica, 23 Dec. 2014, https://www.propublica.org/article/nyc-sends-30-million-a-year-to-school-with-history-of-giving-kids-shocks

[16] https://www.cchrint.org/2020/07/24/cchr-condemns-fda-stay-on-ban-of-skin-shocking-students-for-behavioral-control/; https://mindfreedom.org/affiliate-sponsors/as-archives/international/mdri/mdri-rotenberg/

[17] Véronique Li, Faraz Siddiqui and Jeff Gibbs, “Judge Rotenberg Educational Center v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration,” Food & Drug Law Institute, p. 13

[18] “Massachusetts teen reportedly shocked for hours at special needs school,” Fox News, 20 Feb. 2012, https://www.foxnews.com/us/massachusetts-teen-reportedly-shocked-for-hours-at-special-needs-school; Jennifer Gonnerman, “Trial Shows Autistic Brooklyn Kid Shocked Repeatedly As ‘Treatment,’” Intelligencer, 12 Apr. 2012, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2012/04/autistic-brooklyn-kid-shocked-as-treatment.html

Susan Mizner, “Shocking Kids into Compliance,” ACLU, 25 Apr. 2014, https://www.aclu.org/news/disability-rights/shocking-kids-compliance; “Andre McCollins – a Judge Rotenberg Torture Center survivor’s story,” ADAPT, https://adapt.org/andre-mccollins-a-judge-rotenberg-torture-center-survivors-story/

[19]  https://www.cchrint.org/2024/08/02/mental-health-watchdog-urges-fda-to-ban-electroshock-device; Eric M. Garcia, “Will shock treatment finally be banned?” The Boston Globe, 30 Jan. 2023, https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/01/30/opinion/will-shock-treatment-finally-be-banned/

[20] Susan Mizner, “Shocking Kids into Compliance,” ACLU, 25 Apr. 2014, https://www.aclu.org/news/disability-rights/shocking-kids-compliance; “Andre McCollins – a Judge Rotenberg Torture Center survivor’s story,” ADAPT, https://adapt.org/andre-mccollins-a-judge-rotenberg-torture-center-survivors-story/

[21] https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/cadc/20-1087/20-1087-2021-07-06.html; Véronique Li, Faraz Siddiqui and Jeff Gibbs, “Judge Rotenberg Educational Center v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration,” Food & Drug Law Institute, p. 13

[22] https://www.cchrint.org/2023/10/13/ma-bill-ban-electroshock-aversion-therapy-needed-nationwide/; American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Report to the House of Delegates Resolution, 109D, Jan. 2019; “What is Child Torture,” National Center for Child Abuse Statistics and Policy, https://www.nccasp.org/fighting-child-torture

[23] https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/cadc/20-1087/20-1087-2021-07-06.html

[24] https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/cadc/20-1087/20-1087-2021-07-06.html

[25] https://www.cchrint.org/2021/11/01/mental-health-abuse-reforms-aim-to-protect-against-behavioral-abuse-of-children/; https://www.murphy.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fda_esd_ban_letter.pdf  

[26] O. Rose Broderick, “As FDA misses deadline on electric shock ban, disability advocates speak out,” Stat News, 1 June 2026, https://www.statnews.com/2026/06/01/fda-misses-deadline-electric-shock-ban-disability-advocates-speak-out/

[27] https://autisticadvocacy.org/2022/07/a-letter-of-support-for-legislation-banning-electric-stimulation-devices/

[28] “CCHR Says Massachusetts Bill to Ban Electroshock Aversion Therapy is Needed Nationwide,” CCHR International, 13 Oct. 2023, https://www.cchrint.org/2023/10/13/ma-bill-ban-electroshock-aversion-therapy-needed-nationwide/

[29] https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/H180

[30] “What’s Happening at the Judge Rotenberg Center?” Autistic Self Advocacy Network, https://autisticadvocacy.org/stoptheshock; https://www.cchrint.org/2023/10/13/ma-bill-ban-electroshock-aversion-therapy-needed-nationwide/; Massachusetts House Bill 180, “An Act regarding the use of aversive therapy,” https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/H180  

[31] World Health Organization, OHCHR, “Guidance on Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation,” p. 14, https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240080737

[32] https://www.cchrint.org/2023/10/13/ma-bill-ban-electroshock-aversion-therapy-needed-nationwide/; Jabari Brisport, “Bill to End Electro-shock Announced,” The New York State Senate, 4 May 2022, https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/jabari-brisport/bill-end-electro-shock-announced

[33] https://www.cchrint.org/2023/10/13/ma-bill-ban-electroshock-aversion-therapy-needed-nationwide/; David Linton, “Advocacy group seeks passage of bill that would ban use of shock therapy,” The Sun Chronicle, 9 Oct. 2023, https://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/advocacy-group-seeks-passage-of-bill-that-would-ban-use-of-shock-therapy/article_0f2c61d1-c4ce-5da4-a3c3-f11f6a03d6bc.html; Jabari Brisport, “Bill to End Electro-shock Announced,” The New York State Senate, 4 May 2022, https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/jabari-brisport/bill-end-electro-shock-announced

[34] https://www.cchrint.org/2023/10/13/ma-bill-ban-electroshock-aversion-therapy-needed-nationwide/; Mike Beaudet, “Congress acts to help ban shock devices used for treatment at Massachusetts school,” WCVB, 16 Jan. 2023, https://www.wcvb.com/article/5-investigates-judge-rotenberg-center-shock-therapy/42526127; “What’s happening at the Judge Rotenberg Center?” Autistic Self Advocacy Network, https://autisticadvocacy.org/stoptheshock/

[35] “Disability Rights California signed on in support of these comments,” Disability Rights California, 28 May 2024, https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/latest-news/disability-rights-california-signed-on-in-support-of-these-comments