Opening statements begin on Wednesday, May 31 in the trial of Jeffrey Thelen v. Somatics, LLC and Elektrika, Inc.
Jeffrey Thelen, a resident of Nebraska, underwent 95 ECT “treatments”, received between May 16, 2014, and July 25, 2016, which he alleges caused brain injuries and other harms. Thelen claims he sustained injuries, including brain injury, caused by Somatics’ ECT machine. The causes of action that will be tried are: (1) Strict Liability (Failure to Warn); and (2) Negligence. Somatics denies it was negligent and further denies that the ECT machine was defective as labeled.
The complaint, which can be read in full here, shows the injuries and on-going problems Thelen has endured.
"The injuries Mr. Thelen sustained as a result of defendants’ shock treatment device, include but are not limited to, brain damage, neurocognitive injuries, severe permanent memory loss, significant decline in his ability to learn and recall information, a disruption and decline in his ability to encode new information, diminished quality of life, additional physical, physiological, psychological and emotional injuries and harms, and lost wages and earning capacity."
Thelen alleges that defendants negligently and intentionally concealed and failed to adequately disclose and warn about risks, including but not limited to, brain damage and permanent neurocognitive injuries associated with their shock treatment device. In addition to concealing risks, SOMATICS intentionally, recklessly and overtly misrepresented the safety and efficacy of the shock therapy device.
ELEKTRIKA is a manufacturer and exclusive supplier of “Thymatron” ECT devices for SOMATICS. The lawsuit alleges ELEKTRIKA has failed to register with the FDA.
SOMATICS stated on its website, “ECT remains the safest and most effective treatment for severe depression”. This is misleading and runs against what the FDA say about ECT. In fact, the FDA say the complete opposite, "...the long-term safety and effectiveness of ECT treatment has not been demonstrated.”
After settling an ECT brain injury litigation in 2018, SOMATICS revised its website to issue new warnings about adverse events associated with ECT and its Thymatron device – SOMATICS now for the first time warns on its website that, “in rare cases” ECT “patients may experience permanent memory loss or permanent brain damage.”
Prior to the settlement, SOMATICS, in a Patient Information Pamphlet, falsely stated that ECT does not cause brain injury, falsely stated that any memory loss issues are temporary and not permanent, falsely claimed that ECT actually improved memory and to further downplay the risks of ECT. The pamphlet, using spin, blamed the above adverse events as an 'underlying condition, other medications, and aging.'
According to Dr. Kenneth Castleman, biomedical electrical engineer and former Senior Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, "...the amount of electric current that an ECT machine puts through a patient’s head is about 200 times what is considered dangerous for accidental electric shock, approximately 100 times what Tasers, cattle prods, and electric fences use, about the same as what is used for stunning pigs before slaughter, and roughly one-fifth as much as the electric chair. In addition, the amount of voltage applied to the head (460 volts) is about 400 times what is required to damage a single brain cell. Clearly this amount of electricity has the potential to cause injury to the brain.”.
This is definitely a trial to keep an eye on. Many people, including friends and followers of mine on Twitter, have been severely injured by ECT "treatment" and calls for those injuries to be acknowledged have been ignored, many safety advocates have often been ridiculed and called names for trying to raise ECT injury awareness.
I can't think of a better law firm than Wisner Baum to take on a case like this. I've been a fan of theirs since the early 2000s and have even attended one of their previous trials in Chicago (Dolin v GSK)
They get things done.
I can't think of a better law firm than Wisner Baum to take on a case like this. I've been a fan of theirs since the early 2000s and have even attended one of their previous trials in Chicago (Dolin v GSK)
They get things done.
Period!
Attorneys for Mr. Thelen are Bijan Esfandiari and Monique Alarcon.
Bob Fiddaman
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