13/02/2003
NZCity News

A Parliamentary select committee has concluded a comprehensive review is needed of the safety of electro-convulsive therapy in New Zealand.

Health committee chairwoman Steve Chadwick says the adequacy of regulatory controls on its use also needs to be examined.

ECT can be used in the treatment of severe depression and other serious psychiatric conditions.

The American Psychiatric Society says the treatment is safe and practically painless, but admits that many people are frightened of the procedure because of the way the treatment was portrayed in the film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”.

Ms Chadwick says the committee has heard conflicting evidence on the safety and efficacy of ECT when it was presented with a petition against electro-convulsive shock treatment.

She says another concern is the lack of data collection on the use of ECT in New Zealand.

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