Individual on Death Row Receiving Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) for Catatonia: A Case Report

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is underused, logistically challenging for those who are justice-involved, and laced with ethical problems for those on death row. Herein we describe a case of a man without history of long-standing psychiatric illness who, after more than 15 years on death row, was hospitalized for altered mental status. After medical stabilization, the altered mental status persisted. On exam, he displayed signs of catatonic stupor with repetitive non-goal-directed motor activity, repetition of words, rigidity, and negativism, among others. The Bush-Francis Catatonia Rating Scale was found to be 23. Lorazepam was nontherapeutic. Hospital psychiatry considered ECT. Hospital medicine, medical prison staff, and the hospital ethics committee were consulted. Consent to treat catatonia with ECT was obtained from next of kin. Before treatment, the ECT psychiatrist spoke with prison staff regarding the presence of plastic restraints. To balance the competing demands of carceral policies and musculoskeletal protection, we implemented the practice of removing plastic restraints after the patient was sedated by anesthetic, with restraints being reapplied after the motor convulsion ended. Five days after 7 ECT treatments given thrice weekly, the catatonic symptoms remitted. Ethically, psychiatrists are not to restore competency for the purpose of execution. In this case, ECT was used by psychiatrists unaffiliated with the criminal legal system to reduce suffering and improve quality of life given the potentially fatal consequences of catatonia.