AMA study: Tasers can cause cardiac arrest & death.
An article published by the American Heart Association's (AMA) premier journal, "Circulation," presents the first ever scientific, peer-reviewed evidence that Tasers can cause cardiac arrest and death.Written by Electrophysiologist Dr. Douglas Zipes of Indiana University, the article looked at eight cases involving the TASER X26 ECD.
According to Amnesty International, between 2001 and 2008, 351 people in the United States died after being shocked by police Tasers. The Electronic Village blog has documented another 173 taser-related deaths in the United States in 2009-2012. That means there have been 524 documented taser-related deaths in America. http://electronicvillage.blogspot.com/
The article states: "ECD stimulation can cause cardiac electric capture and provoke cardiac arrest resulting from ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation. After prolonged ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation without resuscitation, asystole develops."
The controversial electroshock devices administer 50,000 volts that usually temporarily immobilize a person’s muscles so officers can gain control of the subject. They have a range of 35 feet.
The Taser is used by law enforcement agencies across Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky such as the Cincinnati police and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. About 16,000 agencies internationaly also use the device, which was marketed as non-lethal.
Taser International has changed its safety warnings over the years. Since 2009, Taser's manufacturer, Arizona-based Taser International, has warned law enforcement agencies to avoid stunning suspects in the upper chest, a way of alleviating concerns the weapon's volt shock could affect the heart.
Cincinnati defense attorney and legal expert Mike Allen called the article’s findings “an important piece of information, no question about it.”
He predicts this will cause more police agencies locally and nationally to drop the use of Tasers for fear of liability in deaths that could be attributed to the devices.
“Dr. Zipes' study just adds credibility to the position that Tasers could be potentially dangerous. He is well respected in the medical community,” said Allen, a former UC police officer and board of trustee. He also was a Cincinnati police officer, Hamilton County Municipal Court judge and Hamilton County Prosecutor before starting his law firm downtown.
“It’s a snowball rolling down the hill that is only going to get bigger. Law enforcement agencies now are going to be taking a skeptical look at Tasers,” he said.
“I think there have been 50-plus wrongful death lawsuits filed against Taser since it went on the market. For a long time, (Taser International) was successful in getting them thrown out of court. But now they seem to be getting some large judgments against them and that seems to be the trend. There is some evidence the device was not properly tested and I expect to see potential product liability actions against Taser.”
“This is no longer arguable,” said Dr. Byron Lee, a cardiologist and director of the electrophysiology laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco. “This is a scientific fact. The national debate should now center on whether the risk of sudden death with Tasers is low enough to warrant widespread use by law enforcement.”
The author of the study, Dr. Douglas P. Zipes, a cardiologist and professor emeritus at Indiana University, has served as a witness for plaintiffs in lawsuits against Taser — a fact that Mr. Tuttle said tainted the findings. “Clearly, Dr. Zipes has a strong financial bias based on his career as an expert witness,” Mr. Tuttle said in an e-mail, adding that a 2011 National Institute of Justice report concluded there was no evidence that Tasers posed a significant risk of cardiac arrest “when deployed reasonably.”
However, Dr. Robert J. Myerburg, a professor of medicine in cardiology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said that Dr. Zipes’s role in litigation also gave him extensive access to data from medical records, police records and autopsy reports. The study, he said, had persuaded him that in at least some of the eight cases, the Taser shock was responsible for the cardiac arrests. “I think when we put together the preponderance of what we know about electrical shocks with his observations, there’s enough to say that the phenomenon occurs,” he said. But he added, “I suspect the incidence of these fatal events is going to be low and can be minimized by the precautions.”
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120501/NEWS01/120501005
http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20120501-stun-guns-increase-chances-of-citizen-injury-but-protect-police-officers
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/health/research/taser-shot-to-the-chest-can-kill-a-study-warns.html
http://electronicvillage.blogspot.com/2009/05/taser-related-deaths-in-united-states.html
AMA articles: http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2012/04/20/CIRCULATIONAHA.112.097584.abstract
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2012/04/20/CIRCULATIONAHA.112.107359
Michigan State University study:
http://news.msu.edu/story/stun-guns-not-safe-for-citizens-but-benefit-police-study-finds/
Tasers no longer a non-lethal alternative for law enforcement.
The new evidence that Tasers can cause cardiac arrest and death, coupled with the disturbing trend of officers using Tasers in flagrantly unnecessary situations, makes it all the more troubling that states do not uniformly or consistently govern or regulate officers’ use of Tasers. This means that Taser policies vary greatly between police departments, often leading to vague, outdated and inaccurate guidelines that result in misunderstanding about the misuse of these allegedly non-lethal weapons.
Taser training materials are mostly provided by Taser International, the private company that makes the weapon. Relying on a private, for-profit company that has a vested interest in promoting and selling their product for training guidelines is not only nonsensical, but dangerous. For example, though Taser International advises officers against administering a shock to the victim’s chest, it does not prohibit targeting this area. In fact, Taser minimizes the potential risk of death or cardiac trauma, instead emphasizing a need to insulate police officers – and itself – from the legal ramifications associated with a shock to the chest. The company goes on to recommend against aiming for the chest because “shots to the chest, particularly at close range, are frequently ineffective because of the lack of major muscle groups in the chest area.” It’s not difficult to see why relying on Taser International’s profit-seeking and liability-evading advice, rather than on rigorous and objective scientific evidence, is both unwise and unsafe.
The new Circulation study should provoke us all – including and most importantly law enforcement agencies – to revisit when the deployment of a Taser is worth its serious risks. To be sure, law enforcement officers have a legitimate interest in protecting themselves and the public during potentially violent encounters, and for the victim, a Taser is generally a less lethal alternative to a firearm. But history demonstrates that law enforcement agencies have failed to create and implement Taser training policies that effectively educate officers about the risks involved and ensure that officers only use Tasers when actually necessary. Law enforcement agencies should review and revise their Taser policies so that officers can make informed and responsible decisions about when using a Taser is warranted. Particularly given the increasing – and disturbing – popularity and indiscriminate use of Tasers, police departments around the country must ensure that they use these lethal weapons responsibly, ethically and as safely as possible.
http://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/tasers-no-longer-non-lethal-alternative-law-enforcement
The Supreme Court is being asked to consider the police use of Tasers.
The Supreme Court is being asked to consider for the first time police use of Tasers. With more than 11,000 agencies nationwide arming officers with the stun guns, the time may be getting ripe for settling questions about when electrical force becomes excessive.
“One could argue that the use of painful, permanently scarring weaponry on non-threatening individuals, who were not trying to escape, should have been known to be excessive by any informed police officer,” Appellate Judge Mary Schroeder noted, before cautioning that “there is no good case law” to clarify decision-making.
Schroeder and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals confronted the complicated Taser questions last year. The majority’s conclusion that stunning a nonviolent individual could be considered excessive force will be reviewed by Supreme Court justices in a private conference this month.
Already, the Los Angeles County Police Chiefs’ Association is urging the high court to take up the Taser cases. Some appellate judges, too, are warning about dire consequences if Taser use is restricted.
“My colleagues cast doubt on an effective alternative to more dangerous police techniques, and the resulting uncertainty will lead to more, worse injuries,” 9th Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski cautioned. “This mistake will be paid for in the blood and lives of police and members of the public.”
The Taser cases will be among many considered by the Supreme Court’s nine justices at their May 24 conference. If at least four justices agree, the combined cases will be added to the docket for the upcoming 2012 term.
While these particular Taser cases may not make the cut, in time others almost certainly will, as the proliferating technology keeps getting dragged into court.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/05/04/147757/taser-cases-could-electrify-the.html
Tasers here to stay.
No changes in local law offices based on report.
A study released last week by the American Heart Association says that an electronic shock received from a Taser, specifically the Taser X26, can cause cardiac arrest and even death.
But local law enforcement agencies aren't buying it.
"There are cases where people have been injured or died," said Belpre Police Chief E.D. Clevenger. "Whether you can connect those to a Taser or not, I find that questionable."
The Marietta Police Department, which carries the X26, has employed a Taser in seven cases so far this year, and haven't seen health issues as a result.
"We've used the Tasers several times since we first got them and we've had no ill effects," said Marietta Police Capt. Jeff Waite.
Local police question the accuracy of the study, noting it examined only eight cases involving a Taser Electronic Control Device (or ECD). They also questioned the authenticity of the study, noting drug use and past medical history all could contribute to cardiac arrest.
"The vast majority of people that end up getting shot by a Taser are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or they would not be fighting with a police officer," Waite said.
Despite the study, none of the local law enforcement agencies said they have intentions to remove them from service.
http://www.mariettatimes.com/page/content.detail/id/544070/Tasers-here-to-stay.html?nav=5002