CCHR Announces Dramatic Rise in ECT Given to the Elderly Eligible for Medicare

CLEARWATER, Fla., May 03, 2018 -- The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), the mental health watchdog group co-founded in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz, wants the public to know that Federal Medicare records show that over 20,000 Americans received electroshock in 2014 under Medicare [1]. Of interest is that the percentage of elderly receiving ECT jumps dramatically for those who are eligible for Medicare from 3.4% of those under the age of 65 years receiving ECT to 15.6% for those 65 years of age and older [2].

In response to this alarming information, CCHR is encouraging individuals and especially seniors to complete and have on file an Advance Mental Health Directive so that if they become incapacitated their wishes will still be honored. Florida is one of 25 states which passed a law allowing a person to write instructions on what if any mental health care they wish to receive including hospitalization, psychiatric drugs, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and experimental procedures [3].

“Having an Advance Mental Health Directive on file can protect a person from unwanted and dangerous psychiatric drugs and procedures – including ECT,” stated Diane Stein, President of CCHR Florida.  “This is why our organization regularly hosts free workshops on these directives for the purpose of educating citizens on their rights.”

CCHR’s Advance Mental Health Directive Workshop is open to the public, free of charge and delivered by attorney Mrs. Carmen Miller, a former Assistant Public Defender in the Thirteenth Circuit for many years in Tampa who is now in the private sector. For more information on the next workshop please call 727-442-8820.

About CCHR: Initially established by the Church of Scientology and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHR’s mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections. It was L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, who brought the terror of psychiatric imprisonment to the notice of the world. In March 1969, he said, “Thousands and thousands are seized without process of law, every week, over the ‘free world’ tortured, castrated, killed. All in the name of ‘mental health.’” For more information visit, www.cchrflorida.org

Sources:
[1] Petition to Ban ECT Device use on Elderly https://www.change.org/p/ban-electroshock-ect-device-being-used-on-children-the-elderly-and-vulnerable-patients
[2] Variation in ECT use in the United States https://www.researchgate.net/publication/15444308_Variation_in_ECT_use_in_the_United_States
[3] Psychiatric Advanced Directives in Florida http://www.nrc-pad.org/states/florida-faq

Media Contact:
Diane Stein
President, CCHR Florida
727-442-8820
[email protected]
www.cchrflorida.org