The state of electroconvulsive therapy in Texas. Part 2: contact with physicians, hospitals, medical liability insurance companies, and manufacturers of stimulus generating equipment.

Since mid-1993, all ECT treatments performed in the state of Texas (except for United States government hospitals) must be reported every quarter to the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (TXMHMR) on a data collection form provided by the Department. Part 1 of this paper reviewed that data. This paper reviews the responses to questionnaires and contacts made with physicians, hospitals, medical liability insurance companies, and manufacturers of stimulus generating devices regarding their experience with ECT in Texas. Questionnaires were sent to physicians and hospitals that had not performed ECT during the final two quarters of the review period. Medical liability insurance companies and the manufacturers of the stimulus generating equipment used in ECT were contacted regarding their experience with liability claims. The results indicate that medical liability in regards to the performance of ECT is extremely low. Physicians and hospitals that stopped performing ECT did so for reasons other than medical liability.