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Associated Press
Feb. 25, 2003
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A bill banning electroshock therapy for children under 14 was approved by the Utah House of Representatives on a 46-21 vote on Tuesday.
During electroconvulsive therapy, an electric current is quickly passed through the brain from electrodes attached to the head. Those receiving treatment are put under general anesthetic. The treatment is used for severe mental illnesses, most commonly severe depression.
Five facilities in Utah use the treatment.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Katherine Bryson, R-Orem, also would require doctors to obtain informed consent from adults seeking the treatment. It also would require a semiannual reporting of the procedure to the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health.
The bill, which carries a sunset date of 2008, now goes to the Utah Senate for consideration.
Critics say the bill is unnecessary, and the procedure is already well-regulated in both consent and reporting.
However, Bryson sees the measure as part of a patient's right to information.
Her bill had originally banned pregnant women and those under the age of 18 from the treatment. She said this final version does what she intended to: provides informed consent, includes a reporting measure and bans children from the treatments.