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FDA OKs Brain Pacemaker for Depression

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the shocking-developments dept.

Duke Machesne writes "On Friday, the FDA approved a new therapy for the severely depressed who have run out of treatment options: a pacemaker-like implant that sends tiny electric shocks to the brain. The Food and Drug Administration's clearance opens Cyberonics Inc.'s vagus nerve stimulator, or VNS, as a potential treatment for an estimated 4 million Americans with hard-to-treat depression - despite controversy over whether it's really been proven to work."

3 of 456 comments (clear)

  1. Terminal Man by Evil+Adrian · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Michael Crichton sort of covered this in his book Terminal Man... the guy gets electrical current run into his brain when he starts getting blacking out and becoming violent...

    Great book. Read it.

    --
    evil adrian
  2. The Terminal Man? by VanillaBabies · · Score: 0, Redundant
    Wasn't there a Michael Crichton book based on a similar premise? Except in the book he learned to control and then started killing people?

    All i'm saying is truth is stranger than fiction, and i don't want to be around when the killing starts.

  3. one step closer to Woody Allen's by iggymanz · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Orgasmotron