Medical organizations should get approval from China's Ministry of Health before doing neurosurgical operations to treat mental disorders or starting clinical research, according to a circular.

It said only hospitals obtaining approval may apply neurosurgical operations to treat patients with serious obsessive-compulsive symptoms, depression and anxiety disorders that cannot be cured by non-operation treatment in a long term, and may cause damage to patients' families and the society, and are indisputable among the international medical community.

Neurosurgical operations should not be used to treat schizophrenia.

Each operation should go through examinations of the hospital's ethical committee, it said.

Further experiments would be needed to verify its safety and effectiveness, as high risks remained in using neurosurgical operations to treat some mental diseases, the ministry said.

Medical organizations and doctors will receive punishment if they violate the provisions, according to the ministry circular.

(Xinhua News Agency April 26, 2008)