U.N. Reports Some Autism and Addiction Treatments Are Equivalent to Torture

So-called treatments for drug users and the disabled in some places of the world—including the U.S.— are far from helpful, says a new United Nations (U.N.) report.

The U.N. special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, presented the report to the agency’s Human Rights Council in Geneva this week, and says that some practices used to treat autism and addiction are “tantamount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”