Friday, January 11, 2013

Joyce seeks federal action to stop shocks at Canton school for disabled

By Fred Hanson

CANTON — State Sen. Brian A. Joyce wants federal officials to stop the use of controversial electronic shock devices at a school for the disabled.

In a letter to the regional director of the federal Food and Drug Administration, Joyce said the devices now in use by the Judge Rotenberg Center have not been approved by the agency. A longtime critic of the school, the Milton Democrat said the devices in use are built by the center and are more powerful than previous models.

The Rotenberg Center uses the electric shocks in aversive therapy to control the behavior of some students.

Over the past 20 months, the center has not adequately responded to three federal Food and Drug Administration notices stating that the agency must determine whether the devices can be legally used, Joyce said.

“The Judge Rotenberg Center thinks it doesn’t have to answer to anyone, including state and federal regulators,” Joyce said in an interview. “This is just the latest example of their dishonesty where they claim this barbaric device is approved.”

FDA officials met with representatives of the center on Wednesday, and neither side would say much about the outcome.

“It’s an open case right now, and we don’t comment when it’s still under investigation,” said Mary Yebba, public affairs specialist at the FDA’s regional office in Stoneham.

In a statement issued by Mariellen Burns, the center “continues to work closely with the FDA to address the issues identified in the warning letter: and JRC will continue to address any and all of the agency’s concerns.”

Mariellen Burns, a spokeswoman for the Judge Rotenberg Center, said in a statement that the center “continues to work closely with the FDA to address the issues identified in the warning letter” and that the center “will continue to address any and all of the agency’s concerns.”

The statement says Massachusetts courts have approved the use of the devices, which administer a skin shock, as part of treatment plans for people “with the most dangerous forms of behavior disorders.”

It also says devices of this type have been in used by the center “for over 20 years and have proven to be extremely beneficial and lifesaving for students with whom all other treatments have failed.”

Joyce said the number of students approved for this treatment has declined “significantly” under new state regulations adopted in 2011, and that FDA action could eliminate the treatment completely.

“I’m hopeful this will speed up the inevitable day when the Judge Rotenberg Center will no longer be able to use this horrific device on children,” he said.