Similarly, the introduction of metrazol-induced convulsions offered a more cost-effective and reliable shock induction method, although it came with severe side effects, including spine fractures in a significant number of patients.
Beginning in 1971, Israel adopted aversive techniques, transitioning in the 1990s to electric shocks and creating the Graduated Electronic Decelerator (GED) to address severe behavioural issues with immediate, discomforting stimuli.
The use of shock treatments, especially insulin and metrazol, was initially enthusiastic and widely adopted, but it subsequently decreased as more potent neuroleptics and antidepressants were developed, along with rising ethical concerns and the emergence of the anti-ECT movement in the 1970s.
Despite this incident, and the reported discretion by nurses in administering drug cocktails to patients, there was a notable lack of regulatory action from health authorities, allowing the practice to continue unchecked for another 12 years under the direction of Dr. Bailey.
This method, which induced comas in patients through insulin injections, resulted in severe adverse effects, including hypoglycemic episodes, seizures, obesity, and in some cases, irreversible brain damage that was mistakenly regarded as therapeutic progress.
[8] With a fatality rate up to nearly 5 percent and the advent of antipsychotic drugs offering safer alternatives, the intense care needed and lack of conclusive evidence supporting its efficacy led to its discontinuation in favour of more humane and evidence-based psychiatric treatments.
According to further studies, the Graduated Electronic Decelerator (GED) was found to be highly effective in managing violent self-injurious and assaultive behaviours in a cohort of patients with intellectual disabilities (IDs) and/or autism spectrum disorder (ASD).