[Peace-discuss] Fw: [police oversight] Tasers Pose Risks to Heart, a Study Warns

[Laurie Solomon]

Thought you might be interested in this

From: Charles Reynolds 
Sent: May 01, 2012 2:28 PM
To: policeoversight at yahoogroups.com 
Subject: [police oversight] Tasers Pose Risks to Heart, a Study Warns

  
<http://www.nytimes.com/> <http://www.nytimes.com/> Description: The New
York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/> 

April 30, 2012

Tasers Pose Risks to Heart, a Study Warns

By ERICA GOODE
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/erica_goode/in
dex.html?inline=nyt-per> 

The electrical shock
<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/injury/electrical-injury/overview.h
tml?inline=nyt-classifier> delivered to the chest by a Taser
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/stun_guns/in
dex.html?inline=nyt-classifier> can lead to cardiac arrest and sudden
death, according to a new study, although it is unknown how frequently such
deaths occur. 

The study, which analyzed detailed records from the cases of eight people
who went into cardiac arrest after receiving shocks from a Taser X26 fired
at a distance, is likely to add to the debate about the safety of the
weapons. Seven of the people in the study died; one survived. 

Advocacy groups like Amnesty International have argued that Tasers, the most
widely used of a class of weapons known as electrical control devices, are
potentially lethal and that stricter rules should govern their use. 

But proponents maintain that the devices - which are used by more than
16,700 law enforcement agencies in 107 countries, said Steve Tuttle, a
spokesman for Taser - pose less risk to civilians than firearms and are
safer for police officers than physically tackling a suspect. The results of
studies of the devices' safety in humans have been mixed. 

Medical experts said on Monday that the new report, published online
<http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2012/04/20/CIRCULATIONAHA.112.097
584.abstract> on Monday in the journal Circulation, makes clear that
electrical shocks from Tasers, which shoot barbs into the clothes and skin,
can in some cases set off irregular heart rhythms, leading to cardiac
arrest. 

"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." 

Police officers, he said, should take precautions when using the weapons and
avoid multiple shocks, prolonged shocks and shocks to the chest. 

"I'd rather see Tasers out there than bullets flying around," Dr. Myerburg
said. "But if you have a choice, if the circumstances allow you to avoid
either, then physical restraint should be considered." 

Description:
http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/clientside/2cf3a0e2Q2FXSQ60EQ5BrXt@Er5V@8zStr
Q3E(zuQ20Q7DkQ7DQ51Q3AQ3EQ3AQ3AenSkEuQ5BQ51

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