Taser issues advisory on use of stun guns

October 21, 2009

(AP) -- Taser International is advising police agencies across the nation not to shoot its stun guns at a suspect's chest.

The Arizona-based company says such action poses a risk - albeit extremely low - of an "adverse cardiac event."

The advisory was issued in an Oct. 12 training bulletin. It marks the first time that Taser has suggested there is any risk of a related to the use of its 50,000-volt stun guns.

Taser officials said Tuesday the bulletin does not state that Tasers can cause cardiac arrest. They said the advisory means only that law-enforcement agencies can avoid controversy if their officers aim at areas other than the chest.

Critics called it a stunning reversal for the company.

©2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

Arkaleus
Oct 21, 2009

Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
This on was a long time coming. Tasers have been killing people because they are intrinsically dangerous devices that interfere with the human nervous system. Cops that indiscriminately use the taser as a "compliance device" will find themselves in legal trouble. Tasers encourage police brutality, increases the tendency of the officer to resort immediately to force when dealing with the public, and exposes the public to lethal danger during non-life threatening situations.

Tasers should be treated as lethal devices, used with care. Cops who Taser children and invalids should be fired and fined.
freethinking
Oct 21, 2009

Rank: 1 / 5 (2)
This is unfortunate. Tasers have been saving lives because it gives the police a different option than shooting people or clubbing them both of which cause much more harm to a person than a taser hit.

Can Tasers be misused? Of course it can. But if a cop is going to misuse a tool on me, I rather have it be a taser no permamant injury and I'm back on my feet in a few minutes if not sooner. Getting punched, being put in a joint lock, or being hit with a club... weeks or months before the injury heals. Pepper spray, intense pain for up to an hour.

Cops who taser (or attack) anyone without cause should (must) be punished. Invalids, children, elderly, who pose a danger, should count themselves lucky if they get tased instead of shot. If people comply with cops, the chances that they will do anything to you is extremely remote.

I tell my kids, if they are belligerant to cops, the chances increase signficantly that something bad will happen to you when you encounter cops.
ArtflDgr
Oct 22, 2009

Rank: not rated yet
how about a warning not to use it on pregnant women, children, and as a torture device while seeking compliance which cant be met while being tortured...

freethinking
Oct 22, 2009

Rank: not rated yet
how about a warning. If you are pregnant, or a child, if you spit, swear at, threaten, hold something that looks like a weapon while doing any of the above or even if you fight a cop, your likelyhood of being tased increases significantly.
Rank 5 /5 (1 vote)
Related Stories
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

Starve a virus, feed a cure? Findings show how some cells protect themselves against HIV

A protein that protects some of our immune cells from the most common and virulent form of HIV works by starving the virus of the molecular building blocks that it needs to replicate, according to research published online ...

Medicine & Health / Research

created 11 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Overeating may double risk of memory loss

New research suggests that consuming between 2,100 and 6,000 calories per day may double the risk of memory loss, or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), among people age 70 and older. The study was released today and will be ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created 7 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Injured boomers beware: Know when to see doctor

(AP) -- It happened to nurse Jane Byron years after an in-line skating fall, business owner Haralee Weintraub while doing "men's" push-ups, and avid cyclist Gene Wilberg while lifting a heavy box.

Medicine & Health / Health

created 12 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Declining health-care productivity in England: Who says so?

Reports that the National Health Service in England has been declining in productivity in the last decade appear to have been accepted as fact. However, a Viewpoint published Online First by The Lancet disputes this. The Vi ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created 5 hours ago | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0

FDA-approved drug rapidly clears amyloid from the brain, reverses Alzheimer's symptoms in mice

Neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have made a dramatic breakthrough in their efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. The researchers' findings, published in the journal Science, show t ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (58) | comments 17 | with audio podcast


Scientists discover molecular secrets of 2,000-year-old Chinese herbal remedy

For roughly two thousand years, Chinese herbalists have treated Malaria using a root extract, commonly known as Chang Shan, from a type of hydrangea that grows in Tibet and Nepal. More recent studies suggest that halofuginone, ...

New method to examine batteries -- MRI from the inside

There is an ever-increasing need for advanced batteries for portable electronics, such as phones, cameras, and music players, but also to power electric vehicles and to facilitate the distribution and storage of energy derived ...

Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon

(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...

A mitosis mystery solved: How chromosomes align perfectly in a dividing cell

Although the process of mitotic cell division has been studied intensely for more than 50 years, Whitehead Institute researchers have only now solved the mystery of how cells correctly align their chromosomes during symmetric ...

Lab study raises questions over nano-particle impact

Tests involving chickens have raised questions about the impact on health from engineered nano-particles, the ultra-fine grains commonly used in drugs and processed foods, scientists said on Sunday.

Researchers find extensive RNA editing in human transcriptome

In a new study published online in Nature Biotechnology, researchers from BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, reported the evidence of extensive RNA editing in a human cell line by analysis of RNA-seq data, demons ...