Mecta is an American corporation in
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
,
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
, that makes and sells
electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive th ...
(ECT) machines.
History
The Mecta ECT machine was developed at Custom Systems in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
, in 1973 by James Fling and the Custom Systems engineering staff, headed by Cliff Moulton. Paul Blachly of the University of Oregon Medical School was the instigator of the research and the medical advisor of the project. MECTA is an acronym for Monitored Electro Convulsive Therapy. Blachly wanted a device for the treatment of
major depression
Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Introdu ...
unresponsive to pharmaceuticals that used minimal energy to induce a seizure. ECT machines of the time all used an excessive amount of joules (watt seconds) to achieve a seizure and Blachly believed them to be unsafe.
Custom Systems was sold to Data Design Inc. in 1980. Data Design sold the product design and rights Of MECTA to Gorham and Robin Nicol in mid-1980.
Blachly died in 1977. The design of the MECTA machine was altered after 1980.
Lawsuits
Akkerman v. Mecta was filed in
Ventura County
Ventura County () is a County (United States), county in Southern California, the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, California ...
, in June 2007. Atze Akkerman alleged deceptive advertising on the part of Mecta, saying that he had not been informed that his memory loss from ECT would be permanent, and his doctor had assured him otherwise based on material that came from Mecta.
The trial court refused to certify a class action suit since the class was overly broad.
In 1989 Imogene Rohovit sued Mecta alleging that her ECT treatment had caused her
brain damage. The judge found against Mecta, which then offered a settlement of $105,000.
[Doctors of Deception, by Linda Andre, published 2009 by Rutgers University Press]
References
Further reading
Dr. Blachly's works have been published in the Journal of Applied Psychiatry and in many other papers on ECT since the 1960s. A book was published on the subject in 1981, "Multiple Monitored Electroconvulsive Therapy", authored by Dr. Barry Maletzky and James Fling (CRC Press). This book was based on work done by Dr. Blachly et al. and his contribution to the development of MECTA.
Blachly was one of the first to advocate modified ECT, and his belief in the efficacy of the modified procedure was the impetus for the development of MECTA.
*
Electroconvulsive Therapy: A Programmed Text by John L. Beyer, Richard D. Weiner, and Mark D. Glenn, (1998) published by American Psychiatric Press
External links
* {{official, http://www.mectacorp.com
Medical malpractice
Companies based in Portland, Oregon
Privately held companies based in Oregon
Healthcare in Portland, Oregon
1973 establishments in Oregon