Posted by stargazer2 on January 24, 2008, at 8:18:03
In reply to Re: I can atest to that!, posted by linkadge on January 23, 2008, at 22:50:40
My concern is when will current ECT practitioners tell patients the truth about the memory effects now that what's his name has spoken?
It is a highly lucrative procedure and Medicare patients do not even have a limit to the number of these procedures they can have, unlike many private insurors, that usually limit ECT to 10-12 treatments.
Why is this? That is federal money being spent without good outcomes on elderly patients who if they were in their right minds and understood the side effects would never consent to it. oftentimes the family agrees to it because they are made to feel guilty if they don't do something.
It's unfair, taking advantage of society's most vulnerable, the elderly and the mentally ill, who are incapable of making decisions of this magnitude, when in the throes of a condition that affects decision making capabilities.
And when patients are told it is their last option, what are they to do, other than give up?
I think that has just become a routine comment for doctors that are limited in their capabilities to treat depression. There are other options, but most pdocs do not follow through with referrals to specialists who may take the treatment much further with medication options and combinations.
At least that's what I did when my pdoc suggested ECT. Since I had seen it first hand, I didn't feel that it was an acceptable option for me. I was never convinced that the outcomes were any better than medication or that it worked for any length of time, not withstanding the memory issues which were always minimized by the doctors.
Let the truth be told and let those who are currenty undergoing the procedure, make their decision, based on currrent knowledge, not past inaccuracies.
Stargazer
poster:stargazer2
thread:808283
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080124/msgs/808693.html