Documented Case Puts Tasers in New Light
Tasers, the controversial weapon of choice for police officers who want to subdue a person during arrest, have been repeatedly declared " safe" by police forces across the country and its manufacturer, Taser International.
" TASERs are a safer use-of-force alternative that are more effective than other non-lethal types of force," reports the Arizona-based company on its website. The only problem is, there are now medical findings that prove Tasers can actually be considered a lethal type of force.
In September 2005, the New England Journal of Medicine published a letter from Dr Wayne H. Franklin of Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago stating that the use of Taser nearly claimed the life of a 14-year old boy.
According to eyewitness testimony, the developmentally delayed boy was sitting on a couch in a juvenile home " not attempting to harm anyone." It is unclear why police shot the unarmed boy with the Taser, but when they did the boy immediately fell to the floor in convulsions.
Dr Franklin said that heart tests performed on the boy indicated that his heart went into " " fibrillation," a condition where the heart stops pumping blood through the body. When this happens, death occurs in just minutes if not corrected by electrically shocking the heart back to life with defibrillator paddles. Luckily the boy in this case received medical attention within two minutes and survived, though he stayed in a coma for three days afterwards.
Taser International has claimed on several occasions that its product cannot cause" fibrillation,, and has " independent" research to prove it. However the mounting number of cases in the U.S. over the last couple of years tells a different story.
A Monterey, California man died after police used the Taser gun five times on him. And the Chief Medical Examiner in Dallas ruled the June 2005 death of a Waco man a homicide when police used a Taser at least four times. The man, who complained of difficulty breathing once officers approached him, died before the ambulance arrived.
Taser sales exploded through most of 2003 and 2004 as police departments rushed to grab this safe deterrent. Not coincidentally, the number of deaths due at least in part to the use of Tasers continues to climb. Sales of Tasers dropped sharply in 2005, and some police departments have started to develop strict rules about their use - signs that even the agencies that use them are starting to doubt their safety.
Tasers, the controversial weapon of choice for police officers who want to subdue a person during arrest, have been repeatedly declared " safe" by police forces across the country and its manufacturer, Taser International.
" TASERs are a safer use-of-force alternative that are more effective than other non-lethal types of force," reports the Arizona-based company on its website. The only problem is, there are now medical findings that prove Tasers can actually be considered a lethal type of force.
In September 2005, the New England Journal of Medicine published a letter from Dr Wayne H. Franklin of Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago stating that the use of Taser nearly claimed the life of a 14-year old boy.
According to eyewitness testimony, the developmentally delayed boy was sitting on a couch in a juvenile home " not attempting to harm anyone." It is unclear why police shot the unarmed boy with the Taser, but when they did the boy immediately fell to the floor in convulsions.
Dr Franklin said that heart tests performed on the boy indicated that his heart went into " " fibrillation," a condition where the heart stops pumping blood through the body. When this happens, death occurs in just minutes if not corrected by electrically shocking the heart back to life with defibrillator paddles. Luckily the boy in this case received medical attention within two minutes and survived, though he stayed in a coma for three days afterwards.
Taser International has claimed on several occasions that its product cannot cause" fibrillation,, and has " independent" research to prove it. However the mounting number of cases in the U.S. over the last couple of years tells a different story.
A Monterey, California man died after police used the Taser gun five times on him. And the Chief Medical Examiner in Dallas ruled the June 2005 death of a Waco man a homicide when police used a Taser at least four times. The man, who complained of difficulty breathing once officers approached him, died before the ambulance arrived.
Taser sales exploded through most of 2003 and 2004 as police departments rushed to grab this safe deterrent. Not coincidentally, the number of deaths due at least in part to the use of Tasers continues to climb. Sales of Tasers dropped sharply in 2005, and some police departments have started to develop strict rules about their use - signs that even the agencies that use them are starting to doubt their safety.
