But psychiatrists warn of the consequences of bringing a medical debate to the Legislature. In Texas, groups of ECT watchdogs, including the Church of Scientology, lobbied so successfully that state lawmakers entertained an outright ban of the procedure. Lawmakers ultimately prohibited doctors from performing ECT on anyone under 16 and required multiple recommendations before allowing the procedure on anyone over 65. They also required more stringent reporting practices and a separate consent form each time ECT is administered.

"For a legislature to intercede in a medical practice would inhibit its continued research," said Max Fink, an attending psychiatrist at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park and a vocal ECT proponent. "ECT is an effective treatment that has saved many lives its availability is very spotty. State, municipal and many private hospitals do not have it available."

ECT advocates dispute that the existing sine wave devices pose any threat, though they agree the machines should not be used. Harold Sackeim, one of the authors of the 1997 study that found several machines still in use, called it "a small issue."

Sackeim would not disclose the location of the machines, citing confidentiality of the hospitals that participated in the study. Newsday contacted 40 hospitals for this story; none said they use sine wave machines.

Oldham said the sine wave machines, while less preferable than newer devices, still deliver valuable treatment with minimal side effects. "The evolution of transitioning to improved medical and surgical equipment is a process," Oldham said. "Hospitals can't immediately drop everything they've got. They have to do it in a planned, budgeted way."

Continued use of even a few machines has further galvanized opponents, who say it is representative of the greater problem of insufficient standards for ECT. Sackeim's study found that procedures vary from hospital to hospital, including how often a patient's memory is evaluated after treatment.

"The American Psychiatric Association has been warning people not to use sine wave for 20 years or more, but they're still there," said Linda Andre, who underwent the treatment in 1981. Andre, 41, of Manhattan, added that an independent agency was necessary to regulate ECT. She said psychiatrists "didn't do anything" to get rid of the sine wave machines before, and warned against having psychiatrists "police" themselves: "You can't put these kinds of things in their hands."

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