FDA Passes May Deadline Without Decision on Electrical Shock Devices at Judge Rotenberg Center

The Food and Drug Administration set itself a deadline two years ago to decide whether to ban electrical shock devices used to manage self-injurious behavior. That deadline, pegged to the end of May, has now passed without a verdict as of June 1, 2026. S.

Institution that still employs them. The center has 3,475 residents, 54 of whom receive some shock treatments, according to a JRC spokesperson. United Nations officials have called the practice a form of torture.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has described it as punishing. Disability advocates have sought to close the center for decades, particularly after a 2012 court video showed a resident being shocked for seven hours. The FDA began the regulatory process in 2013 and attempted to outlaw the devices in 2020.

A federal appeals court judge overruled that 2020 decision, stating the agency lacked authority. Congress added a provision in its 2022 omnibus bill granting the FDA the needed authority. The FDA posted an initial rule in 2024.

The vast majority of public comments supported reinstating a ban. A federal health spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the agency’s current plans. Aleyda Martinez arrived at the Judge Rotenberg Center in 2002 at age 14.

She said officials removed a ring from her finger on her first day and that she was routinely shocked for speaking Spanish. ” Robyn Linscott, director of education and family policy at The Arc, first learned about the treatments in 2011 while working as a special education teacher in New York City.

” JRC Executive Director Glenda Crookes said the center must obtain approval from a resident’s family and from a judge before using the device.

Crookes described one resident who had been restrained for seven years: “Within 30 days, he was medication free. He was restraint free. ” Martinez disputed that the device produces lasting behavioral change.

“They say that people’s behavior changes, but it’s because if they’re on [a graduated electronic decelerator], they get shocked and it’s like they’re living in fear, walking on eggshells, like they didn’t really change,” she said. The Judge Rotenberg Center offers schooling in addition to therapy and is viewed by some families as a last resort for individuals who have not responded to other treatments.