By Ken Carlson
The Modesto Bee
TURLOCK, Calif. — Magnetic wave stimulation targeting areas of the brain could be used to enhance the job performance of police and fire personnel in Turlock.
The city is considering whether to spend federal funds to offer personalized transcranial magnetic stimulation, or PrTMS, to public safety personnel who may feel groggy from poor sleep or want to improve interactions with the public.
Dr. Kevin Murphy explained the drug-free, noninvasive therapy at workshops Monday in Turlock. Therapy performed in a clinic directs magnetic pulses to stimulate electrical activity in neurons in the brain to regulate moods and restore mental well-being. The treatment is tailored for each individual based on an EEG and mapping of brain activity.
Murphy said the benefits for first responders will be fewer injuries and complaints, better sleep and employee satisfaction. The doctor said improved sleep is a common denominator for people who come into the clinic struggling with different issues.
“If you improve sleep, you improve a lot of behavioral patterns,” Murphy said at a workshop attended by 20 people.
Different versions of transcranial magnetic stimulation have developed as possible drug-free treatments for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder in combat veterans, autism and Alzheimer’s disease. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the therapy for depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and migraine headaches.
After the workshop, which was held at a church, Turlock Police Chief Jason Hedden said the proposed voluntary use of PrTMS for first responders is in the early stage of consideration. The City Council is expected to decide on a contract in September to spend perhaps $642,500 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for Genesis Behavior Center to administer the therapy.
Murphy’s presentation included video clips of his son, who has autism and has shown dramatic progress since age 10 with language acquisition and behavior, the doctor said, though studies on PrTMS for severe effects of autism are ongoing.
The proposed therapy for city employees with high-stress public safety jobs would employ the Genesis system to deliver low-amplitude energy pulses to nerve cells in the brain. The goal is to change brain wave patterns that are out of sync and causing negative emotions or other symptoms.
The first step is a five-minute EEG, followed by data analysis to map the person’s brain activity. A personalized treatment plan is developed and the treatment is five days a week for four to eight weeks.
Genesis offers its services at a clinic in Modesto and will soon open a clinic location in Turlock. Its website lists other locations in Elk Grove, Sacramento, Merced and Stockton.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment-resistant depression was one of the services at an advanced psychiatric therapeutic clinic at UC Davis Health, announced in January.
Murphy’s legal battle in Southern California
Some media attention has questioned whether Murphy’s approach to PrTMS has been tested in clinical trials. In Southern California, the former cancer doctor also was embroiled in major litigation with UC San Diego over $10 million in funds that Murphy said was donated for his research.
In August 2023, CBS8 in Southern California reported that Murphy prevailed in the lawsuit, with the jury awarding $39 million to the former UC San Diego oncologist.
“I didn’t want to be fighting with the state,” Murphy said Monday in Turlock. “They misused the funds. ... I was a whistleblower.”
Murphy said his specific therapy is being tested in a study at Walter Reed Hospital in Maryland. The data also have been reviewed in retrospective studies of patients who underwent the therapy.
Murphy said the equipment for PrTMS therapy costs $150,000. The economics work out to a charge of $200 per treatment in clinics.
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