A Massachusetts school can continue to use electric shock devices to modify behavior by students with intellectual disabilities, a federal court said this month, overturning an attempt by the government to end the controversial practice, which has been described as “torture” by critics but defended by family members. The judges ruled 2-1 that a federal ban interfered with the ability of doctors working with the school, the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center, to practice medicine, which is regulated by the state. The center serves and houses students — both children and adults — who have intellectual disabilities or behavioral, emotional or psychiatric problems. Critics have called the practice dehumanizing and abusive, with the United Nations labeling it “torture” and the F.D.A. saying it can cause long-lasting trauma.

Source: New York Times July 15, 2021 17:26 UTC