06/17/04 FDA Panel Approves Electrical Depression Device

[Poster]

An advisory panel from the FDA recommends that the FDA approve an implanted electrical nerve stimulator to treat depression. The device, which uses vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), passed by a vote of 5-2, with strict restrictions that it only be used in extreme cases when patients do not respond to traditional treatment. Epileptic patients have used the same device for treatment since 1997, but Cyberronics Inc., the company who endorsed the product for depression, says it helps those with severe cases of depression. However, while Cyberronics and the FDA advisory panel have confidence in the device, not all scientists agree.

"I think there are certainly hints to efficacy. I think it's not been proved," says Kyra J. Becker, MD, a neurologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle and chairwoman of the FDA panel.

"This alone I think is a significant benefit of VNS therapy," says Richard J. Rudolph, MD, Cyberonics' chief medical officer.

For more information see: http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/89/100114.htm?z=1728_00000_1000_1n_05

[james02]

My friend as long as I know It works on the same principle as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) -- commonly called "electric shock treatment" -- a treatment usually reserved for severely depressed patients who do not respond to antidepressant drugs or therapy. But instead of using electric shocks, NeuroStar stimulates the brain by sending a focused magnetic field into the brain from outside the skull -- a treatment called transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS.