Thanks for all of the info, Xibalba. I don't have any first hand experience with rTMS so was just basing that on information that I had heard. All of my experiences and opinions of ECT are the same, as previously stated.
There is also a situation due to the changes in FDA requirements that puts ECT at risk of becoming unavailable. Rules within the FDA were changed about 35 years ago but at the time, since ECT had already been in use for so long they waived the requirement for that device. They've more recently been looking at whether that should continue to be allowed. If ECT machines remain in their current classification, FDA may require clinical trials that exceed the scope of what is affordable to the two companies who are the main manufacturers of the device in the US (in which case, no clinical trials would mean no more ECT). The other option is the FDA could reclassify ECT machines to a lower-risk category, but as you can imagine there are many people who adamantly oppose such an option.
My point is, technically, ECT has also never received the kind of clinical trials that one would expect or deem sufficient for such a device.
There is a movement to have it de-listed from FDA and to have the process restarted from scratch, properly this time.
There is also a situation due to the changes in FDA requirements that puts ECT at risk of becoming unavailable. Rules within the FDA were changed about 35 years ago but at the time, since ECT had already been in use for so long they waived the requirement for that device. They've more recently been looking at whether that should continue to be allowed. If ECT machines remain in their current classification, FDA may require clinical trials that exceed the scope of what is affordable to the two companies who are the main manufacturers of the device in the US (in which case, no clinical trials would mean no more ECT). The other option is the FDA could reclassify ECT machines to a lower-risk category, but as you can imagine there are many people who adamantly oppose such an option.
My point is, technically, ECT has also never received the kind of clinical trials that one would expect or deem sufficient for such a device.