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| Distribution of a pamphlet on electroconvulsive therapy (shock treatment) published by the Mental Health Division of the Health Department of West Australia, has been discontinued, following a complaint. The pamphlet which was supplied to the public from six State operated shock facilities, the Guardianship and Administration Board, the Office of the Public Advocate and elsewhere, contained false and misleading information which served to recklessly misguide the most vulnerable members of the community, No Iframes and their family and friends. The pamphlet which carried the government seal, described ECT as a "small electric current," even though the strength of current in ECT, induced a grand-mal seizure and the Australian Safety Standards gives no such value as "small" to electric current. The pamphlet also claimed that "There is no medical evidence that the brain is damaged," even though the medical literature is littered with such instances from both the historic use and the modern method of ECT. In fact, there is a small added risk of brain damage in the modern method, from the anesthetic alone. The pamphlet and its content which "helps answer questions" was being used by psychiatrists in the process of obtaining 'informed consent' while avoiding the obligation of a truthful disclosure. As of October 2001, the pamphlet "Electroconvulsive therapy" catalogue No: HP6824 - has been given the official status, "OBSOLETE" For what it is worth, we are assured by the Health department today by phone, that they will not be publishing any information in the future on the topic of ECT. http://www.healthyplace.com/depression/shocked-ect/ect-pamphlet-withdrawn-in-australia/menu-id-1362/ | |||||||
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
ECT Pamphlet Withdrawn in Australia
Child shock therapy
CHILDREN younger than four who are considered mentally disturbed are being treated with controversial electric shock treatment.
Medicare figures show the use of Electroconvulsive Therapy has tripled in Victoria in the private health sector alone in six years.
A VicHealth report confirms more than 18,000 treatments were conducted in Victoria in 2007-2008.
Federal Government statistics show the use of ECT - an electric shock delivered straight to the brain - in the state's private health system increased from 1944 treatments in 2001-2002 to 6009 in 2007-2008.
About 12,000 treatments were performed in the public health system last financial year.
Medicare statistics record 203 ECT treatments on children younger than 14 - including 55 aged four and younger.
Two of the under-4s were in Victoria.
Last financial year, 6197 ECT treatments were given to Victorians against their will.
This news comes as the Western Australian Government moves to ban ECT procedures for children under 12.
The Victorian Government would not say if it would follow.
The figures have shocked some experts.
Prof Pat McGorry, chair of the National Youth Mental Health Foundation, said ECT treatment for children whose brains were still forming was worrying.
"That is of great concern, a very worrying trend and we need to know why," he said.
"Why has its use increased at that rate? I am shocked and amazed that children that young are being treated this way."
Though doctors are still mystified as to how it works, ECT is used to treat mental disorders such as manic depression and psychosis.
The figures show nearly three times as many women had shock treatment compared with men.
Side effects include memory loss, seizures and headaches.
Modern treatment involves anaesthetic before each ECT treatment, which occur at intervals during a few weeks.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/child-shock-therapy/story-e6frf7kx-1111118657718
Medicare figures show the use of Electroconvulsive Therapy has tripled in Victoria in the private health sector alone in six years.
A VicHealth report confirms more than 18,000 treatments were conducted in Victoria in 2007-2008.
Federal Government statistics show the use of ECT - an electric shock delivered straight to the brain - in the state's private health system increased from 1944 treatments in 2001-2002 to 6009 in 2007-2008.
About 12,000 treatments were performed in the public health system last financial year.
Medicare statistics record 203 ECT treatments on children younger than 14 - including 55 aged four and younger.
Two of the under-4s were in Victoria.
This news comes as the Western Australian Government moves to ban ECT procedures for children under 12.
The Victorian Government would not say if it would follow.
The figures have shocked some experts.
Prof Pat McGorry, chair of the National Youth Mental Health Foundation, said ECT treatment for children whose brains were still forming was worrying.
"That is of great concern, a very worrying trend and we need to know why," he said.
"Why has its use increased at that rate? I am shocked and amazed that children that young are being treated this way."
Though doctors are still mystified as to how it works, ECT is used to treat mental disorders such as manic depression and psychosis.
The figures show nearly three times as many women had shock treatment compared with men.
Side effects include memory loss, seizures and headaches.
Modern treatment involves anaesthetic before each ECT treatment, which occur at intervals during a few weeks.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/child-shock-therapy/story-e6frf7kx-1111118657718
Shock therapy forced on patients
THE number of mental health patients forced to undergo electroconvulsive therapy in NSW has doubled in the past decade, and a lack of legal representation is leaving some of the state's most vulnerable patients without a say over their own treatment.
The case of one 84-year-old pensioner who did summon legal help to avoid ECT has highlighted a situation that leaves involuntary patients - and their families - powerless to challenge psychiatrists.
In NSW, involuntary ECT requires the approval of the Mental Health Review Tribunal. All mental health patients are entitled to a lawyer, but only one in 10 patients is represented in the tribunal's hearings.
The tribunal held 315 hearings for involuntary ECT in 1998. In 2007 there were 626 hearings. In that period legal representation in ECT hearings wavered between 4.9 and 8.9 per cent. Ninety-eight per cent of applications for involuntary ECT were approved.
The chief executive of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Robin Banks, said the wishes of involuntary patients were given little consideration. She believed the absence of lawyers was "a serious loss of freedom" and a situation that undermined Australia's commitment to human rights.
"A minimum protection within any decision-making process like this … should be that the person can have access to legal representation," she said. "It's a pretty basic right we're talking about: the right to control your own body and what treatment you receive."
The tribunal, too, would welcome more input.
"We can't force Legal Aid to give legal aid to everybody," said the tribunal's president, Greg James, QC. "[But] patients, the public and the tribunal would be much better off if legal aid were available. The whole reason we do this monitoring of ECT is to make sure the public can feel protected. There is a distrust in the community of such psychiatric treatments."
The case of one 84-year-old pensioner who did summon legal help to avoid ECT has highlighted a situation that leaves involuntary patients - and their families - powerless to challenge psychiatrists.
In NSW, involuntary ECT requires the approval of the Mental Health Review Tribunal. All mental health patients are entitled to a lawyer, but only one in 10 patients is represented in the tribunal's hearings.
The tribunal held 315 hearings for involuntary ECT in 1998. In 2007 there were 626 hearings. In that period legal representation in ECT hearings wavered between 4.9 and 8.9 per cent. Ninety-eight per cent of applications for involuntary ECT were approved.
The chief executive of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Robin Banks, said the wishes of involuntary patients were given little consideration. She believed the absence of lawyers was "a serious loss of freedom" and a situation that undermined Australia's commitment to human rights.
"A minimum protection within any decision-making process like this … should be that the person can have access to legal representation," she said. "It's a pretty basic right we're talking about: the right to control your own body and what treatment you receive."
The tribunal, too, would welcome more input.
"We can't force Legal Aid to give legal aid to everybody," said the tribunal's president, Greg James, QC. "[But] patients, the public and the tribunal would be much better off if legal aid were available. The whole reason we do this monitoring of ECT is to make sure the public can feel protected. There is a distrust in the community of such psychiatric treatments."
Monday, September 26, 2011
The influenza vaccine debate - 57% of 209 children aged 6–59 months who received CSL TIV experienced a febrile reaction, compared with 17% of 110 children who received another TIV
The 2010 trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) manufactured in Australia by CSL Biotherapies (CSL) caused an excess of febrile reactions, including febrile convulsions, among Australian children.1 A retrospective cohort study conducted in Western Australia found that 57% of 209 children aged 6–59 months who received CSL TIV experienced a febrile reaction, compared with 17% of 110 children who received another TIV (P < 0.0001).1 The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation concluded that the rate of febrile convulsions among children vaccinated with the 2010 CSL TIV may have been as high as 1 per 100.2 The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) stated that the cause of these reactions had still not been determined as of 8 July 2011.3
In the United States, CSL TIV was initially approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2007 for use in adults, and in 2009 for use in children aged 6 months and older.16 On 15 June 2011, the FDA issued a warning letter to CSL.17 After reviewing the US regulator’s findings, the Australian regulator (the TGA) concluded that, “The two regulators are in agreement over the problems identified at CSL”.3 The FDA highlighted potential issues with the splitting procedure used by CSL.17 According to the FDA, sodium taurodeoxycholate lots that failed identification tests at CSL were nonetheless accepted for use. The FDA also stated that CSL “failed to determine optimal splitting conditions for new virus strains before the strains [were] used in production” and that “the tests used to evaluate the completeness of virus splitting [were] deficient” as the assays used were not “validated for their ability to discriminate between split and whole virus”.17 These concerns, together with the previous Canadian and European experiences, suggest that incompletely split virus, and perhaps other factors related to the use of deoxycholate, provide a plausible explanation of the AEFI associated with the 2010 CSL TIV.
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/195_06_190911/kel10941_fm.html
In the United States, CSL TIV was initially approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2007 for use in adults, and in 2009 for use in children aged 6 months and older.16 On 15 June 2011, the FDA issued a warning letter to CSL.17 After reviewing the US regulator’s findings, the Australian regulator (the TGA) concluded that, “The two regulators are in agreement over the problems identified at CSL”.3 The FDA highlighted potential issues with the splitting procedure used by CSL.17 According to the FDA, sodium taurodeoxycholate lots that failed identification tests at CSL were nonetheless accepted for use. The FDA also stated that CSL “failed to determine optimal splitting conditions for new virus strains before the strains [were] used in production” and that “the tests used to evaluate the completeness of virus splitting [were] deficient” as the assays used were not “validated for their ability to discriminate between split and whole virus”.17 These concerns, together with the previous Canadian and European experiences, suggest that incompletely split virus, and perhaps other factors related to the use of deoxycholate, provide a plausible explanation of the AEFI associated with the 2010 CSL TIV.
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/195_06_190911/kel10941_fm.html
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