Penal Code section 2670.5
(a)
No person confined or detained under Title 1 (commencing with Section 2000) and Title 2 (commencing with Section 3200) shall be administered or subjected to any organic therapy as defined in subdivision (c) without his or her informed consent, provided that:(1)
If the person gives his or her informed consent to organic therapy, it shall be administered only if there has been compliance with Section 2675 to 2680, inclusive.(2)
If the person lacks the capacity for informed consent to organic therapy other than psychosurgery as referred to in subdivision (c), in order to proceed with the therapy, the warden shall secure an order from the superior court to authorize the administration of the therapy in accordance with Section 2675 to 2680, inclusive.(b)
No person confined or detained under Title 1 (commencing with Section 2000) or Title 2 (commencing with Section 3200) who lacks the capacity for informed consent shall be administered or subjected to psychosurgery as referred to in subdivision (c).(c)
The term organic therapy refers to:(1)
Psychosurgery, including lobotomy, stereotactic surgery, electronic, chemical or other destruction of brain tissues, or implantation of electrodes into brain tissue.(2)
Shock therapy, including, but not limited to, any convulsive therapy and insulin shock treatments.(3)
The use of any drugs, electric shocks, electronic stimulation of the brain, or infliction of physical pain when used as an aversive or reinforcing stimulus in a program of aversive, classical, or operant conditioning.(d)
A person does not waive his or her right to refuse any organic therapy by having previously given his or her informed consent to the therapy, and the person may withdraw his or her consent at any time.(e)
Nothing in this article shall be construed to prevent the attending physician from administering nonorganic therapies such as psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, group therapy, milieu therapy, or other therapies or programs involving communication or interaction among physicians, patients, and others, with or without the use of drugs when used for purposes other than described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (c).(f)
Nothing in this article shall be construed to prevent the administration of drugs not connected with a program of conditioning and intended to cause negative physical reactions to ingestion of alcohol or drugs.
Source:
Section 2670.5, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=2670.5. (updated Jan. 1, 1989; accessed Jul. 7, 2025).
