Taser says stun gun is safe

[struggle4progress]

A new company study ...

Taser says stun gun is safe
The stun-gun maker says study shows its X26 device sparks no significant heart rhythm abnormalities

May 13, 2005: 10:28 AM EDT
NEW YORK (CNN) - Stun-gun maker Taser International said Friday that an independent study of the effects of one of its new devices, the Taser X26, found no significant heart rhythm abnormalities in volunteers subjected to its shock. *snip*

A peek into the company's research philosophy ...

Taser director removed from health study
Company's medical chief had advised Justice Dept. project

MSNBC News Services
Updated: 1:22 p.m. ET May 13, 2005MADISON, Wis. - A Wisconsin researcher has removed Taser International’s medical director as an adviser to a study of the safety of stun guns after critics said his involvement with the manufacturer tainted the research.

University of Wisconsin-Madison professor John Webster had described his two-year, $500,000 study funded by the U.S. Department of Justice as the first to look at the safety of stun guns independent of Taser, the Arizona-based company that makes the weapons.

But documents uncovered this week show Robert Stratbucker, an Omaha physician who is Taser’s top medical officer, is one of four consultants to the study, which will look at how pigs’ hearts react to electric shocks from the devices.*snip*

Stratbucker’s studies are often cited by the company as evidence the weapons are a safe way to subdue unruly suspects. He has acknowledged receiving cash and stock options from Taser. *snip*

A grand jury asks for rules ...

Report Urges More Caution With Taser Stun Guns

May 13 (ABC7) — *snip*

The Santa Clara County civil grand jury is asking all county law enforcement agencies to establish a uniform code for taser use.

It also recommends the various agencies create a board to regularly meet to discuss taser protocol. *snip*

And experts wonder why another grand jury didn't see a tape ...

Experts: Jury should have seen Taser video

By LATEEF MUNGIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/13/05

A videotape showing a handcuffed inmate lapsing into unconsciousness after being shocked repeatedly with a Taser should have been shown to a Gwinnett County grand jury, three legal experts have concluded.

Two former prosecutors and a defense attorney, at the request of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, this week reviewed the official investigatory file on the death of Frederick Williams. Each said he felt the grand jury should have been allowed to decide if a crime was committed by sheriff's deputies. Williams never regained consciousness after the May 25, 2004, jail altercation. *snip*

"I don't see why a Taser would ever be reasonable when you have an inmate who is handcuffed by his hands and his feet," said Morgan, who is now a defense attorney. *snip*

"There may not be probable cause here that you have a murder," Kadish said. "But there may be probable cause that you have involuntary manslaughter." *snip*

[BlueEyedSon]

1. Depends on what your definition of "dead" is.....

[htuttle]

2. BREAKING: Manufacturer says product is safe

:eyes:

[mbperrin]

3. Nice sig! "To live in fear, that is what it is to be a slave."

Not trying to hijack here....

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

8. So let's line up the Board of Directors

and shoot each one a couple of times with a Taser. I bet they'd change their opinion -- if they could speak at all.

[LeftyMom]

4. You can believe it manufacturers say ther product is safe!

Excuse me, I have to go install a shield booster in my Corvair now, so we can head over to Jack in the Box on our way to the Firestone tire shop. :eyes:

[Salviati]

7. Can you pick me up a pack of smokes while you're out...

...better make that a carton, I just can't get enough of them...

[dogday]

5. Is it safe for a fetus?

[struggle4progress]

12. Electrical injury from Tasering and miscarriage

Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 1992 Feb;71(2):118-23. Related Articles, Links


Electrical injury from Tasering and miscarriage.

Mehl LE.

Department of Family Practice and Community Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston.

A case report is presented of a woman who was "Tasered" by law enforcement personnel while 12 weeks pregnant. The Taser (Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle) is an electronic immobilization and defense weapon that has been commercially available since 1974. The Taser was developed as an alternative to the .38 special handgun. The patient was hit with Taser probes in the abdomen and the leg. She began to spontaneously miscarry 7 days later and received a dilatation and currettage procedure 14 days later for incomplete abortion. The world's literature on electrical and lightning injury to pregnant women is reviewed, and the mechanism of action of Taser injury is discussed. As use of the Taser becomes more common, obstetrical clinicians may encounter complications from the Taser more often.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1316038&dopt=Abstract

[catnhatnh]

6. You really only need to ask one question...

...How many volunteers offered to be shocked MULTIPLE TIMES???The American people need to read these reports and realize that people, many of whom are already restrained,are subjected to multiple shocks until DEAD-realspeak...SERIAL ELECTROCUTION...The cops using these techniques on women,children and the non-threatening mentally ill should be charged for what they are REALLY doing-torture to force compliance,even in the absense of any physical threat...Call them what they are-NAZI BEASTS and hold them accountable.A taser should never be used unless the only alternative is a gun!

[truthisfreedom]

9. wow! i'm so glad they tested those things! i was worried about that!

whew. man, at least one corporation taking real responsibility. just lightens my load a little...

have a great weekend everybody! i'm absolutely bouyant over this!

/sarcasm

[jobycom]

10. Well, if you follow NRA logic, stun guns don't kill people...

people kill people. So I guess Tasers are safe, along with guns, nuclear weapons, chainsaws, and rocks thrown from skyskrapers.

As long as cops don't shoot anyone with them, they are nearly harmless.

[ladjf]

11. I'd say that they might be biased.

[maddezmom]

13. kick to combine

[Sgent]

14. Study Says Tasers Don't Cause Heart Rhythm Disturbances

Study Says Tasers Don't Cause Heart Rhythm Disturbances
By ALEX BERENSON
Published: May 14, 2005

An independent academic study of Taser electric stun weapons has found that they do not cause heart rhythm disturbances when used for short periods on healthy adults.

The report, which was made public yesterday, is the first to monitor directly the effects of Tasers on human heart rhythm. It appears to confirm earlier studies performed on pigs that show that Tasers are unlikely to cause ventricular fibrillation - a lethal heart disturbance - when they are used for less than five seconds on healthy adults.

But the study did not examine other serious risks that some scientists have said may be associated with Tasers, including their effect on the blood and on body temperature. The study also did not examine the effects of repeated shocks or whether the Taser might be harmful to people who had used cocaine or other drugs.

Dr. Ted Chan, the lead investigator on the report and an associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of California, San Diego, said that the study's results were preliminary and that much more research was needed. Taser International, which makes the guns, did not finance or participate in the study and was informed of its results only after it was completed, Dr. Chan said.

<snip>

NY Times article

Amazing, they found no LT effects in police officers in training. How about 80 year old nursing home residents, or people with pace-makers.

[cornermouse]

15. The study is an outright lie.

It does affect younger healthy people and if you believe what they're saying, then obviously using electrical shock to restart a stopped heart is an exercise in futility.

[Sgent]

16. they said that he had no

adverse effect on the heart rythms of young health people. The ekg's don't lie, and the study didn't recieve funding from the taser people.

That being said, there are still LOTS of questions (scientifically).

[cornermouse]

17. I repeat. They are lying through their teeth.

[Love Bug]

18. Operative phrase: "used for short periods on healthy adults"

I don't think that means "used repeatedly on minors or unhealthy (and who can know that by sight?) adults"

[orpupilofnature57]

19. An independent study, hmmmm

[Zodiak]

20. Useless study...not everyone is "normal, healthy"

Gee....that's funny. If these things are so harmless, how come 70 people have been killed with these devices?

"Researchers have found that guns do not kill. Normal, healthy humans can survive gunshots if shot through the foot with a small caliber weapon." Gee...what a relief.

I have had one heart attack, but I otherwise look like a normal, healthy human being. Does this study mean that a cop will make that assessment "in the field" and zap me with impugnity?