Needless to say, with modern technology and knowledge, outcomes such as Rosemary Kennedy got would be rare to non-existent.
from the article
The family of Mary Lou Zimmerman would agree. In 1998, Zimmerman, a former bookkeeper who was then 58, visited the Cleveland Clinic to have surgery to relieve severe OCD. Zimmerman suffered from one of the most common compulsions, a fear of contamination. She spent hours every day showering and washing her hands, and neither drugs nor counseling could break the cycle.
A surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic performed two procedures in combination - a cingulotomy and a capsulotomy - burning four holes in her brain. More typically, surgeons perform one procedure, making two holes. It was soon clear that the patient had suffered crippling brain damage, either from the surgery, from an infection or from both, said the woman's attorney, Robert Linton, of the Cleveland law firm Linton & Hirshman. In June 2002, a jury in Ohio awarded Zimmerman and her husband, Sherman, $7.5 million in damages. "She is completely disabled and needs full-time care," said Linton. "This is an example of what can happen when an experimental procedure goes awry. There are real risks."