In March 2024, the Food and Drug Administration under President Joe Biden introduced a new rule that would have banned, after decades, the use of electric shocks on disabled children as a form of punishment. A ban on forcibly shocking kids—which the American Academy of Pediatrics says causes “long-lasting adverse physical and psychological impacts,” was set to come into force last year—but the Tru...
The strongest version of this narrative highlights a long-standing ethical and regulatory battle over the use of aversive interventions on disabled children, framed as a human rights issue. The FDA’s repeated attempts to ban electric shocks—despite legal and political obstacles—underscore the tension between institutional practices and evolving medical consensus. The JRC’s defense of shock therapy as a "last resort" for extreme behaviors clashes with expert testimony and survivor accounts descri...