{{short description|Scottish surgeon (1922–2002)}} {{redirect|Margaret Patterson|the American artist|Margaret Jordan Patterson}} {{Paid contributions|date=October 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox medical person | name = Meg Patterson | honorific_suffix = MBE | birth_name = Margaret Angus Ingram | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1922|11|09|df=y}} | birth_place = Aberdeen, Scotland | death_date = {{death date and age|2002|07|25|1922|11|09|df=y}} | death_place = Lanark, Scotland<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60631&h=204141&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=ro81967502&_phstart=successSource|title=Scotland and Northern Ireland, Death Index, 1989-2013|website=www.ancestry.com|access-date=13 October 2017|url-access=subscription }}</ref> | death_cause = | citizenship = | education = University of Aberdeen (MBChB)<br />University of Edinburgh (MD) | occupation = surgeon | years_active = | known_for = Neuro-electric therapy | relations = George Patterson | website = | profession = | field = | work_institutions = | specialism = | research_field = | notable_works = | prizes = | child = | module2 = | signature = }}
'''Margaret Angus Patterson''' (9 November 1922 – 25 July 2002) was a Scottish surgeon and medical missionary who developed a method for treating drug addiction she called "neuro-electric therapy" (NET). While the therapy gained public attention through celebrity endorsements, it was met with skepticism by the medical community due to a lack of formal evidence. Some modern clinical trials have found that a device based on her principles is effective for reducing opioid withdrawal symptoms.
==Early life and education== Margaret Angus Ingram was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1922. The daughter of Alexander Ingram, she was the youngest of five children.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|title=Eastern touch at Aberdeen wedding|date=12 September 1953|work=Aberdeen Evening Express}}</ref> Patterson started medical school at 21 during World War II, and qualified as a member Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons when she was 25, the only woman in the group.<ref name=BMJobit>{{cite journal|last1=Patterson|first1=Lorne|title=Margaret Angus Patterson (nee Ingram)|journal=BMJ|date=7 September 2002|volume=325|issue=7363|pages=550|doi=10.1136/bmj.325.7363.550|pmc=1124070}}</ref>
== Career == Patterson went to India as a medical missionary.<ref name="BMJobit" /> While in India she met George Patterson in Kalimpong and they married in 1953; the couple were committed Christians.<ref name=":0" /> George Patterson had become famous through his involvement with the Dalai Lama, and his reporting on the 1959 Tibetan uprising and the subsequent events in China's annexation of Tibet.<ref name="GPobit">{{cite news|title=Obituary: George Patterson|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/medicine-obituaries/9799200/George-Patterson.html|accessdate=21 September 2017|work=Daily Telegraph|date=13 January 2013}}</ref> For her work establishing and expanding clinics in India she was awarded the MBE in 1961.<ref name="BMJobit" />
In 1964, she moved to Hong Kong with her husband, where she was appointed surgeon-in-charge at Tung Wah Hospital. They remained in Hong Kong until 1973.<ref name=GPobit/>
In 1972, other doctors in Hong Kong, H.L. Wen and S.Y.C. Cheung, published their work on electroacupuncture for treatment of addiction. Patterson adopted their method, developing a technique called "neuro-electric therapy" (NET), replacing the acupuncture needles with electrodes, making this a form of cranial electrotherapy stimulation.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Guleyupoglu|first1=B|last2=Schestatsky|first2=P|last3=Edwards|first3=D|last4=Fregni|first4=F|last5=Bikson|first5=M|title=Classification of methods in transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) and evolving strategy from historical approaches to contemporary innovations.|journal=Journal of Neuroscience Methods|date=15 October 2013|volume=219|issue=2|pages=297–311|doi=10.1016/j.jneumeth.2013.07.016|pmid=23954780|pmc=3833074}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Fingleton |first1=M. |last2=Matheson |first2=C.I. |date=December 2012 |title=NeuroElectric Therapy in Opiate Detoxification (Review) |url=http://www.hello.nhs.uk/documents/lit_search_archive/2013/Electro%20Stimulation%20Therapy%20for%20Opioid%20Withdrawal-%20Archive.pdf |journal=Health Libraries in Lincolnshire Online (Excerpted) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930175855/http://www.hello.nhs.uk/documents/lit_search_archive/2013/Electro%20Stimulation%20Therapy%20for%20Opioid%20Withdrawal-%20Archive.pdf |archive-date=September 30, 2017 |via=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Platt|first1=Jerome J.|title=Cocaine Addiction: Theory, Research, and Treatment|date=2000|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674001787|page=242|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5tZqyz2i-cwC&pg=PA242|language=en}}</ref> On returning to the UK she and her husband collaborated to popularise the technique, which became popular with rock and pop stars.<ref name=BMJobit/><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Norton|first1=Quinn|title=Neuroelectric Therapy: Addiction cure or quakery?|url=https://www.wired.com/2007/03/neuroelectric_t/|magazine=Wired|date=20 March 2007}}</ref><ref name=Scotsman>{{cite news|title=Howson backs electric heroin cure|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/howson-backs-electric-heroin-cure-1-1418078|work=The Scotsman|date=24 December 2006|language=en}}</ref><ref name=Shapiro/>
The medical and scientific community was skeptical about the technique. Patterson found herself building clinics with minimal funding, much as she had in India.<ref name=BMJobit/>
In 1974, Patterson treated Eric Clapton for heroin addiction.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Burnside|first=Anna|date=2020-05-10|title=Scots doctor's pioneering treatment helped rock stars kick their addictions|url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/new-documentary-sheds-light-electric-22001946|access-date=2021-01-19|website=Daily Record|language=en}}</ref>
In 1976, Patterson set up a clinic in Broadhurst Manor, East Sussex, funded by the Robert Stigwood Organisation. Donors misleadingly marketed the clinic as "a cure for heroin addiction", which it was not. In 1981, funding ran out and she moved the clinic to California.<ref name=Shapiro>{{cite book|title=Waiting for the Man: The Story of Drugs and Popular Music|last=Shapiro|first=Harry|publisher=Quartet Books|year=1988|isbn=0-688-08961-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/waitingformansto00shap/page/234 234]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/waitingformansto00shap/page/234}}</ref>
A 1986 article in ''New Scientist'' said that the medical establishment viewed Patterson as a quack for trying to remove addiction with tiny electrical currents, and that one clinical trial found it to be ineffective.<ref name="quack">{{cite journal |author=Sattuar O |date=16 January 1986 |title=Cross currents in treating addiction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FcMOY6UfgaoC&pg=PA57 |journal=New Scientist |issue=1491 |page=57}}</ref> ''People'' magazine said there was "disbelief and even hostility from Britain's medical establishment and from the US medical world".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Reed |first=Susan |date=11 August 1986 |title=Britain's Dr. Meg Patterson Helps Jolt Boy George Out of His Heroin Habit |url=http://people.com/archive/britains-dr-meg-patterson-helps-jolt-boy-george-out-of-his-heroin-habit-vol-26-no-6/ |journal=People |volume=26 |issue=6 |access-date=12 October 2017}}</ref>
==Death and legacy== In 1999, Patterson had a major stroke a week after opening a clinic in Tijuana. In 2001, she and her husband returned to Scotland, where she died on 25 July 2002. She was survived by her husband, a daughter, two sons, and five grandchildren.<ref name="BMJobit" /><ref name="GPobit" />
Following Meg Patterson's death, researchers continued her work, focusing on modern validation of the protocol. Her husband and her son Lorne continued marketing the NET technique.<ref name="Scotsman" /> Evidence reviewed within NHS Scotland found no substantial evidence that neuro-electric therapy was helpful in treating opiate addiction.<ref name=":2" />
A trial design to assess the efficacy of NET as a treatment for opioid use disorder was published in ''Frontiers in Psychiatry'' in 2022.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Greenwald |first1=Mark K. |last2=Arfken |first2=Cynthia L. |last3=Winston |first3=Joe R. |date=2025-02-19 |title=A randomized, sham-controlled clinical trial to evaluate the NET Device™ for reducing withdrawal symptom severity during opioid discontinuation |journal=Frontiers in Psychiatry |language=English |volume=16 |doi=10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1510428 |issn=1664-0640 |pmc=11880230 |pmid=40046990 |doi-access=free |article-number=1510428}}</ref> This research led to the development of a transcutaneous alternating current stimulator (tACS), which received FDA clearance in 2024 for use with patients in opioid withdrawal.<ref name="FDA510k">{{cite web |title=510(k) Premarket Notification - K233166 |url=https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfPMN/pmn.cfm?ID=K233166 |website=U.S. Food and Drug Administration |date=29 May 2024}}</ref>
A follow-up study published in 2025 examined post-discharge outcomes among patients who received NET Device™ monotherapy during residential opioid detoxification. The study reported lower rates of opioid and psychostimulant use over a three-month period among participants who received active stimulation for more than 24 hours, compared with control conditions. The authors noted that the findings were based on secondary analyses and recommended further independent replication.<ref name="Greenwald2025FollowUp">{{cite journal |last1=Greenwald |first1=Mark K. |last2=Arfken |first2=Cynthia L. |last3=Winston |first3=Joe R. |title=Post-Discharge Use of Opioids, Psychostimulants, and Treatment Medications Following Residential Opioid Discontinuation with NET Device™ Monotherapy |journal=Frontiers in Psychiatry |date=19 September 2025 |volume=16 |article-number=1627267 |doi=10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1627267 |doi-access=free |pmid=41169495 |pmc=12569648 }}</ref>
==Awards and honours== * MBE, 1961<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=10 August 2002 |title=Surgeon who helped rock stars kick drugs |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/11954745.Surgeon_who_helped_rock_stars_kick_drugs/ |access-date=2018-06-11 |website=HeraldScotland |language=en}}</ref>
==See also== * Electrotherapy * Cranial electrotherapy stimulation
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Meg}} Category:1922 births Category:2002 deaths Category:20th-century Scottish inventors Category:20th-century women inventors Category:20th-century Scottish surgeons Category:20th-century Scottish women medical doctors Category:Alternative medicine Category:Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Category:British medical missionaries Category:British women inventors Category:Christian medical missionaries Category:Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Category:Female Christian missionaries Category:Fringe science Category:Health professionals from Aberdeen Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Scottish Christian missionaries Category:Women surgeons