Landmark California Settlement Marks Rare Legal Victory in Electroshock Treatment Case
Lawsuit against psychiatrists and hospital alleged patients suffered permanent cognitive injuries after electroconvulsive therapy
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A closely watched California lawsuit alleging that electroconvulsive therapy caused permanent cognitive injuries to two patients has been resolved through a confidential settlement, marking what advocates describe as a rare legal victory against individual psychiatrists and a hospital over the controversial psychiatric treatment.
The case, settled shortly before a trial was scheduled to begin in Sacramento County Superior Court in May, involved two women who alleged they suffered severe and lasting injuries after receiving electroconvulsive therapy, commonly known as ECT, at a Sacramento psychiatric facility.
According to court filings, the women underwent 11 and 31 electroconvulsive therapy treatments, respectively, and later alleged they experienced permanent memory loss, neurocognitive impairment, diminished learning ability, executive-function deficits and other psychological and economic harms.
The defendants included two psychiatrists and the Sutter Center for Psychiatry, where the treatments were administered.
Plaintiffs alleged lack of informed consent
The lawsuit asserted claims including medical malpractice, negligence, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and battery.
Central to the case were allegations that the physicians and hospital failed to adequately disclose risks associated with electroconvulsive therapy and obtained treatment consent without fully informing patients about the potential consequences.
The plaintiffs alleged that providers concealed or minimized risks including permanent memory loss and long-term neurocognitive injuries associated with the treatment and misrepresented the safety and effectiveness of the procedure.
The doctors and hospital had denied the allegations and sought dismissal of the case, but the plaintiffs successfully overcame those efforts, allowing the litigation to proceed toward trial before the settlement was reached.
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Case follows shift in California law
The litigation emerged amid broader legal challenges involving electroconvulsive therapy devices and informed-consent standards.
Attorneys involved in the case pointed to a 2024 decision by the California Supreme Court that narrowed legal protections previously available to pharmaceutical and medical-device manufacturers in failure-to-warn cases.
The ruling made it more difficult for defendants to avoid liability by relying solely on physician testimony regarding whether additional warnings would have altered treatment decisions.
Legal observers say the decision strengthened the role of patient autonomy and informed consent in medical litigation.
Broader scrutiny of electroconvulsive therapy
The Sacramento case is part of a broader wave of litigation involving manufacturers of electroconvulsive therapy devices.
One defendant manufacturer, MECTA Corporation, entered bankruptcy proceedings after facing numerous lawsuits alleging inadequate warnings regarding risks associated with its devices.
Another manufacturer, Somatics LLC, faced a federal jury trial in Florida in 2023. In that case, jurors found the company failed to adequately warn about certain risks associated with its electroconvulsive therapy equipment.
Supporters of electroconvulsive therapy maintain that the treatment remains an important option for patients suffering from severe depression and other serious psychiatric disorders, particularly when other treatments fail.
Critics argue that patients are not always fully informed about potential long-term cognitive effects.
While the California settlement does not establish liability or create legal precedent, it represents one of the most significant challenges yet to individual practitioners and a hospital over alleged injuries tied to electroconvulsive therapy — a treatment that has remained one of psychiatry’s most debated interventions for decades.