ST. PAUL, Min. — For the past year, David Russell has been held at Regions Hospital on a court-ordered civil bond.
He received seventeen shock treatments at the Mayo Clinic to treat his mental illness. Now doctors at Regions Hospital are asking the court to do more.
“This is the third case of forcible electroshock in Minnesota for which we have issued a warning,” said attorney Jim Gottstein.
Gottstein has spoken to Russell and volunteers to help fight against forced psychiatric drugging and electroshock.
“Not only is he committed, but a guardianship has been appointed over him,” Gottstein said.
Because of the custody, Russell is considered incompetent, according to Gottstein, and the court can make a decision based on what doctors want.
He doesn’t think Russell is a good candidate for ECT.
“The usual reason for giving an electric shock is if someone is severely depressed and this should shock them out of it. The FDA only approves this for Catania, but in this case Mr. Russell is not diagnosed with depression. There he is diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, which is not a normal indication for electroshock,” Gottstein said.
ECT involves attaching electrodes to a patient’s head and delivering an electrical current to the brain to trigger a seizure.
Gottstein believes further electroshock treatments could impact Russell’s ability to return to society and care for himself.
“He’s a software engineer and it’s really a question of how many electric shocks he can withstand and how likely he is to go back to that,” Gottstein said.
In Minnesota, doctors are not allowed to administer antipsychotic medications unless the patient consents or there is an emergency, even if it is civil. However, in rare cases, courts may hold hearings to force patients to take the drugs or ECT.
A judge will hear doctors’ request Monday morning to continue electroshock treatment for Russell.
