Taser Quote of the Month - 'not quite as safe as I thought'

I don't think they are quite as safe and useful as I once believed. Const. Daniel Dickhout [LINK]

Tasers continue to be marketed under false claims of safety. Marketing claims that are contradicted by the company's legal fine print.

Taser International on the losing end of legal battles with Karbon Arms

File under: LOSERS

25 January 2012 - Karbon Arms ... prevailed [over Taser International] in the U.S. District Court. ...Taser International [had] falsely accused Karbon Arms of violating a court ordered injunction. Karbon was vindicated of the baseless allegation by Rick Smith, Taser's CEO, that Karbon is "seeking to evade the Court's injunction through subversive means." ...

In addition to this victory, in December 2011, the U.S. Patent Office completed a re-examination of Karbon's patent number 7,778,005 and found in favor of Karbon Arms. Taser requested this re-examination in May 2011. ... [LINK]

Joe Arpaio’s officer tasered Latino veteran that ended up dead

Video Shows Joe Arpaio’s Officer Used Taser On Latino Vet Who Later Died

Doctors found no drugs or alcohol in his system.

[LINK]

Another good summary...

Note - this info goes way beyond what the manufacturer will admit, so the certified taser "experts" will not be aware of any of this.

The 1999-era M26 taser has a waveform that actually is a very short pulse of high frequency. These two characteristics actually did help to make it arguably reasonably "safe" with respect to direct cardiac effects.

Where it all went wrong was the 2003-era X26 taser. They changed the output waveform to also include a DC offset pulse that repeats at the 19Hz PRF. This component (the majority) of the output waveform is no longer short duration and no longer high frequency. They've unintentionally abandoned two key safety features for a trivial 5% increase in effectivity. The death rate PER DEPLOYMENT approximately doubled with the introduction of the X26 taser. The overall taser-associated death rate jumped from several per YEAR to about ten per MONTH.

Even one of the company's own experts has confirmed that the M26 has a wider safety margin than the X26. In other words, they've confirmed exactly what I've stated above.

For those that still refuse to accept the cause-and-effect relationship between being tasered and sometimes being dead, please respond to the taser's 'Curious Temporal Asymmetry' argument (Google the phrase).

For those that still feel that "tasers are safer than guns", please realize that tasers replace lower and safer forms of force in 99+% of all deployments. So your point is obviously true, but rarely applicable.

To be clear, the evil swirling around tasers is related to the waveform design error that makes the X26 far more potentially deadly than is reasonable, and the false claims by the manufacturer regarding the risk of death from the X26 taser. It's the false claims about safety that increase the usage pattern to the point where all sorts of people are being tasered, and the occasional non-violent subject is being killed by police (that have been fooled by the false claims).

I hope that this detail helps to clarify the complicated background of the actual problem with tasers.

Ken Harris talks about $10 million Taser verdict

Old news (summer 2011), but still fresh: [LINK]

This is in connection to the taser-caused death of Darryl Turner, a 17-year-old student. Turner was killed by a taser hit directly to the chest.

Taser International continues to deny that the taser can kill in that manner, while simultaneously updating their fine-print legal warning language to warm of the same risk. I'll leave it to reader to calculate the morality of their two-faced approach.

Four RCMP Officers to stand trial for perjury

CTV News:

The four RCMP officers who tasered [TO DEATH] Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver airport in October, 2007 will stand trial on perjury charges. ... [LINK]

Const. Bill Bentley
Const. Kwesi Millington
Const. Gerry Rundell
Cpl. Benjamin Robinson

*Because* they had a taser, it became a taser incident. The use of the taser led directly to the death of Mr. Dziekanski. Then they lamely tried to cover it up.

If they didn't have a taser, it's overwhelmingly likely that Mr. Dziekanski would not have been killed.

What about Taser International's hired help? They also "testified" at the Braidwood Inquiry and much of what they claimed is clearly incorrect, and they know it. Perhaps they should also be held to account?

TASER basics: What every judge and jury should know

Tasers are potentially dangerous and it should not be a surprise to anyone that their use can occasionally cause and/or contribute to death.


PS: Meyer and his fans should look up Feynman on the distinction between 'Naming' and 'Knowing'. Meyer's column (14 Nov. 2011) is simply infested with plenty of 'Naming', but it reveals he's arguably a bit weak on the 'Knowing' front (apparently getting *all* of his information [vocabulary of taser-speak] from his sometimes "sponsor", Taser International).

Tasers are NOT "non-lethal"...

...and why the false claim is so dangerous.

Even the OEM [Taser International] has ever-so-slowly changed their tune and they now use the near-meaningless phrase "less than lethal". They've also added more and more direct health risks to their warnings. It's also a cold hard fact that some subjects have been in perfect health one moment and dead the next, and coroners have attributed some deaths to the taser's effects. Dr. Zipes, one of the world's leading experts in the field, has concluded that the OEM has systematically understated the risks. Canada's Braidwood Inquiry concluded that tasers can cause and contribute to death, and the OEM's appeal was tossed out of court.

Of course the taser death rate is low by any standard, but that misses the point.
The point is that false claims that tasers are inherently and always "non-lethal" is dangerously misleading and such false claims lead directly to the overuse of tasers in non-violent encounters (many examples). The result is often a net increase in the level of violence introduced into non-violent situations, and subjects being killed where it should not have happened. Not even touching on the entire torture question... Many hundreds of directly related lawsuits are costing US cities millions and millions and millions of dollars.

It's obvious that the *only* correct approach is to treat these weapons as "potentially lethal" (banish the misleading and dangerous concept of them being "non-lethal") and invoke strict policy that only allows their use immediately below lethal force (a huge narrowing of their too frequent misuse as a compliance [torture] tool). Such a better-informed approach eliminates virtually all of the misapplications while sticking closer to the advantage that tasers are obviously less lethal than gun fire.

$1,000,000 "...a litigation settlement for an officer injury during arrest..."

Stupid is as Stupid pays.

A source tells me that Taser International’s Annual Report for 2010 (Form 10K) includes the following tidbit:

...a charge of approximately $1.0 million relating to a litigation settlement for an officer injury during arrest claim, included in other expense...

So, if you're a Police Officer that has been let down by the unreliable and sometimes ineffective taser, leading to an on the job injury, the line forms here.

HTV

National Institute of Justice connects use of tasers to "causing....death"

CBS News - A National Institute of Justice study concludes some police are going to their Tasers to subdue suspects 'way too fast' causing unnecessary pain and, in some cases, death. ...[LINK]

Yes, tasers can sometimes cause death.

Fort Worth Weekly: "Taser Gets Zapped"

Quote of the Week:

“That was a fully fabricated lie,” said Burton.

Referring to a statement issued by Taser International's long-nosed spokespuppet Steve Tuttle in relation to the taser-caused death of Darryl Turner. [LINK]

CSM - 'Tasers in the crosshairs'

The Christian Science Monitor

Three deaths in one weekend puts Taser use by cops in crosshairs
Tasers were involved in three deaths over the weekend, renewing the debate over when and how the police-issued stun guns should be used. [LINK]

...recent studies have shown that the weapons can have an outsized impact on people with health problems or who are very high on drugs and in a state of "excited delirium." ... Tasers contributed to some 351 US deaths between 2001 and 2008, says Amnesty International, which adds that 90 percent of those tasered were unarmed at the time they were electrocuted. The website Truth Not Tasers claims that 39 people have died in relation to "conducted energy devices (CEDs)" this year in the United States, an average of five per month. ...

More background on KARBON Arms

From an on-line discussion:

I am not sure about your credentials on these products but I find your comments uninformed and very biased. I have been a Taser instructor for the last 6 years and have trained over 500 in the use of the Taser. I am also a Karbon Arms instructor and was a stinger 200AT instructor for the past 3 years before it was bought out. I work for a large Sheriff's office and we have had great success with both products. We just received our Karbons that you claimed "fishy". 100 this year and we are buying 100 more in 2011. I am alarmed buy the amount of TASERs that we have that are broken. TASER just released a training bulletin stating that 5 years is the expected life of their product. The Karbon works as good or better than the TASER. The $950 TASER vs the $500 Karbon is not much to think about. The lawsuit you refer to was against the Stinger 200 that was 1st generation technology. Karbon arms is now on 3rd generation technology and has their own patent that was awarded shortly after TASER won the lawsuit over the 1st generation technology that Stinger was no longer using. TASER International wants $450 each to fix the 27 broke TASERS we currently have in inventory. Close to half of those have the infamous defective on/off lever. [Somewhere online]

KARBON ARMS - An alternative to Taser International ?

Interesting...

KARBON MPID [LINK] - Highlights of the Karbon MPID include:
"Off The Shelf" batteries – Save your department time and money
Internal Cartridge Retention – Protect the cartridge when things heat up
Unbreakable Push Button On/Off Safety – Extremely durable and simple to use, ensures the Karbon MPID turns on when it’s most needed
Single Finger Cartridge Eject System – Eject the cartridge quickly and effectively, no fumbling equals no accidents.
Uni-Body Solid Frame Construction – Durability to last through daily abuse
Integrated Front Sight and Integrated Flashlight – Makes sure everyone knows where the darts are heading
Wireless Data Conveyance – No open ports on the unit, simple to place on data dock, has virtually no clock drift

Their features list is neatly aligned with the many practical failings of the products designed by the idiots at Taser International.

They also specifically mention that their waveform is constant current and computer controlled. If true, then perhaps it offers a slightly higher margin of safety (?).

The major question is so far unanswered: What are their claims of safety, and how are these issues communicated during marketing and training?

In other words, how are their basic ethics?

Toronto G20 thugs positively identified

Justice Melvyn Green's judgment caused a stir because of its harsh criticism of police tactics. He said police officers acted as the aggressors that evening. "The only organized or collective physical aggression at that location that evening was perpetrated by police each time they advanced on demonstrators," Green wrote. ... [LINK]

REMINDER: August 2010 - Taser International settles with Butler for $3M

News from about one year ago [LINK].

This was yet-another HUGE legal setback (loss) that they pretend to ignore.

Taser International tasers itself in the arse

Taser International's 2nd Quarter results are about as expected. They're idiots and have managed to post yet another loss (again(again(again...))).

They've abandoned the obviously-stupid 'Protector' product / "service" (sic); it's not exactly an unexpected failure. That real-world IQ Test cost them at least $1.4M. LOL.

They've also been forced by their legal loss in the Darryl Turner case to set aside $3.3M. I'm not bad at seeing the future and I predict that they'll not be winning the appeals in this case. That money, along with another $6M+ from their extremely unhappy insurance carrier, will almost certainly eventually be signed over to the family.

There's still a backlog of other cases that should keep them in court and in the red until the end of time.

Idiots.

News Flash! - Taser torture of inmates is a serious civil rights violation

NEWS FLASH!!

A former Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s deputy, Althea Mallisham, 52, has been charged with violating jail the civil rights of three inmates by using a stun gun on them. ... Mallisham is charged with using a stun gun to illegally punish the three inmates during separate incidents in June and September 2008. According to the indictment, she used an X26 Taser to shock the three inmates... Each of the inmates was injured as a result, according to the court document. ... Mallisham faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. ... [LINK]

What? Electro-torture of inmates is illegal? Geesh. Who would have guessed THAT?

Decades in prison? Seems fair...

Kotzebue, AK cop loses his immunity in stun-gun case

...The Alaska Supreme Court has reversed a judge's finding that a Kotzebue police officer who used a stun gun on an 11-year-old should get immunity... [LINK]

Something to think about.

"After ineffective taser attempt, police shoot man"

...officers surrounded the suspect in a neighboring back yard and the man threatened to shoot himself. After convincing the man to holster his weapon, officers deployed a taser, which was ineffective. Chief Steve Robinette could not address the reason why the weapon did not work. "We hope to determine why it was ineffective through the course of the investigation," he said. After officers deployed the taser, the man unholstered his gun. According to reports, officers fired at the man in order to protect themselves. He was apparently hit in the torso and the hand. ...[LINK]

Unreliable and dangerous (to all present) weapon.

Taser International claims it is "generally safe and effective", and utterly refuse to acknowledge the risks.

Illuminating taser use stats from New Zealand

Figures obtained by the Sunday Star-Times show police have "presented" Tasers to offenders 797 times since March 2010 and, of these, they were fired 102 times. However, the police's Tactical Options Research database shows the weapons were ineffective on 36 of those 102 occasions, meaning the weapons worked only two-thirds of the time. [LINK]

Tasers are "presented" about 800 times, but only deployed about one hundred times.

If this sort of 8:1 ratio applies more generally, then there 'should be' thousands of people falling over dead at the "presentation" of a taser (assuming that Taser International's disgusting lie about taser safety is true).

Tasers are ineffective in about one-third of all attempted deployments. For whatever reason, it's a huge and dangerous failure rate.

This well-known ratio reveals that Taser International's claim that tasers are "generally safe and effective" is a bald-faced lie from a bunch of bald-faced liars. They know about this sort of failure rate - it's been seen before. But they try to deflect attention away from it. Even though it is inherent with the flawed concept and design of the taser.

If they'll lie about tasers being "generally effective" then they'll also lie through their teeth about taser safety too.

Scum.

Random thoughts - Hubris comes home to Taser International

A federal jury awarded $10 million against TASER International Inc. for the wrongful death of a teenager who died after being shocked in the chest by a TASER. The jury found that the company failed to warn that discharging the device near the heart could cause cardiac arrest. The model in question was the X26 ECD. [all over the news]

The long-term impact of this finding is huge.

As critics of Taser International have been stating (the obvious) for years, tasers are perfectly capable of causing or contributing to death. Taser International has systematically (and deceptively) denied these risks for many years.

The case of Darryl Turner is one of the clearest examples. He was tasered directly in the chest, which killed him.

The scum at Taser International, and they are the worst type of scum, will continue to deny these risks, while simultaneously adding legal warnings to the fine print.

They will file appeals, primarily as a stalling tactic. They're madly trying to enter other markets (over-priced phone apps, and VASTLY over-priced ear-cams). I suspect that the timing isn't going to work out for them. Their total potential liability exceeds the market valuation of their company by several times.

Their liability insurance payments are probably going to increase. $6M for ONE case? Do the math. Hundreds and hundreds of taser associated deaths.

Their most-recent legal record isn't anything to be proud of. They've lost several significant cases.

Plaintiff lawyers should consider getting some subpoenas on the "private" information held by the insurance carriers. I don't believe that there is any priviledge in the insurance client-provider relationship.

Taser International found liable in killing of Darryl Turner

Taser International, manufacturer of potentially lethal stun guns, was found partially responsible for the death of 17-year-old Darryl Turner after police in Charlotte, N.C., used a Taser device on him during an altercation at a grocery store on March 21, 2008. [LINK]

Mr. Turner was young and in generally good health, was tasered and was dead almost immediately.

Taser International was ruled responsible for about $9.23 million of the total award; about $6 million of that will be covered by insurance. The city of Charlotte will cover $730,000 as part of a settlement, and $40,000 will be covered by workers’ compensation insurance.

The $3M+ judgment not covered by their insurance consumes their potential profit for even a good year; and that's going to bite very hard. The next pain they feel will be when their insurance carrier(s) realize that this is the new trend. The third pain will be when the investors (a.k.a. morons) read about this and start complaining.

I've not been posting much recently, primarily because I've been waiting for this day.

Taser International can appeal this judgment all they want. The cold hard fact remains that their "safe" product killed Darryl Turner directly.

This one will stick.

Sucks to be Taser International - maker of occasionally-lethal weapons

Scottsdale, Arizona arrived directly on "Autopsy confirms inmate killed by Taser".

All those false claims about taser safety that they promoted over the years. Now directly contradicted by real-world evidence, not to mention their latest legal warnings. Tsk tsk tsk.

The 'Curious Temporal Asymmetry' - finally, a counter-example.

It is extremely rare that the subject will die during a taser incident, unless the taser actually makes contact.

But finally we have what seems to be a clear-cut counter-example:

52-year-old Daniel Murrell - Louisville Metro Police Officer Matthew Mount pulled out his Taser, but didn't use it. Investigators then said Mount walked with Murrell a little further and then Murrell agreed to be handcuffed without incident. After Mount and Murrell returned to the corner of Greenwood and Cecil, investigators said Murrell collapsed. He later died. [LINK]

The Curious Temporal Asymmetry [LINK] is still the smoking gun that clearly demonstrates that tasers are perfectly capable of, and actually are, causing or contributing to death. It's just that we finally have a counter-example on the other side.

Just one. It should be (*) many hundreds or thousands. But just one so far.

(* If the fairy tales of taser safety were true...)

Const. Christopher "taser yer nuts" Hominuk bursts into tears

See [LINK] for full story...

Legally, that's 'Torture'. These actions (as have been reported) fit the definition perfectly.
The max of 14 years might be a bit harsh, but four years in the slammer would be about right.

Here's the disturbing punchline:
This is how tasers are often used. Typically not in the crotch, but as torture.

Howard Hammon multiple-tasered and then died "of car crash"

Questions continue to come up surrounding the death of Howard Hammon [LINK]

...There are questions about the number of times Hammon was tasered. The Chief claims it was twice, but police first-hand account records show he was hit five times by three separate officers. After Hammon was cuffed, he was left face down in a grassy area for five minutes while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. It was in this same position paramedics found him, not breathing and with no pulse. ...

Gee, I wonder what killed him?

Now that the claim that tasers are incapable of causing death has been shown to be a bald-faced lie, and it is now clear that tasers can and do cause death... ...then maybe, just maybe, the multiple taser hits caused or contributed to Hammon's death.

Unless clear-cut evidence of an alternate rational explanation is found (not guesswork under the banner of "excited delirium"), then taser-caused-death must be considered as a possibility.

Former officer Todd "taser in Ruiz's neck" Lappegaard PERSONALLY liable

IT IS RECOMMENDED that the Minneapolis City Council AFFIRM the City’s decision not to defend or indemnify the Respondent, Todd Lappegaard, in connection with Rolando Demetrio Ruiz v. City of Minneapolis and Todd Lappegaard. [LINK]

See also [LINK], [LINK], [LINK] and [LINK].

Good decision. If Lappegaard's life is ruined, then perhaps that will send a clear message to meat-heads everywhere - and thus help to protect the rights of citizens.

Autopsy confirms inmate killed by Taser

Taser International's nightmare has arrived.

LILLINGTON, NC - The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner issued autopsy results Tuesday that list a Harnett County inmate's cause of death as complications from being Tasered multiple times. "Given the autopsy and investigative findings, it is our opinion that the cause of death is complications of conducted energy device application," reads the report. ... [LINK]

24-year-old Brandon Jolvon Bethea of Fayetteville. Reportedly not restrained in any other way.


Taser International makes weapons that can kill.

And yet, they once claimed that Tasers were essentially inherently safe.

Scum. Slimeball scum.

Taser Quote of the Month: "Tasers do not usually kill..."

Tasers do not usually kill... [LINK]

Fair enough.

Put another way, Tasers sometimes do kill.

That's a long way from the old lie that Tasers were inherently incapable of ever causing or contributing to death.

It shouldn't be such a great mystery when some people react to taser hits by dying.

Taser International may play word games, but the fact remains that Tasers can and do cause or contribute to death. Therefore, their use must be tightly regulated.

Taser fails to help Vancouver Police with sword-wielding man

File under: Unreliable weapon

CBC News:

Police used rubber bullets and a Taser to try to take down a sword-wielding man in downtown Vancouver near the busy intersection of Burrard Street and Georgia Street on Monday. ...a shot from a Taser stun-gun failed to take the man down, and he was then tackled to the ground by several officers... [LINK]

Not only inherently potentially dangerous. But also dangerous due to the relatively high rate of it being ineffective.

FAIL.

Canadian Province of Nova Scotia heading in correct direction

The province and policing partners agree that the use of conducted energy weapons should only occur when a person’s behaviour is aggressive or violent and could harm the person or the public or the police officer. [LINK]

Geesh. Basic Common Sense 101.

File under: Duh!

I've stated several times that if the subject is actually violent, then I don't care of the police are forced to use "a fricken flamethrower" on the subject. That statement is, I readily admit, a vast overstatement. Hopefully the brave police would display restraint and heroism, and would struggle to find a way to defuse the situation rather than mindlessly meet mindless violence with more mindless violence. Especially in the cases where the subject is probably mentally ill.

...it speaks volumes that the use of the stun guns has already dropped by over 70 per cent since Hyde’s death in 2007

Not a bad start.

But it's still about thirty times the historical rate of police use of lethal force.

That ratio should be more like about five (roughly) to achieve an ethical balance.

New civilian agency to probe police incidents in B.C.

CBC News - British Columbia's solicitor general has introduced long-awaited legislation to create an independent civilian agency to conduct criminal investigations into serious incidents involving all police in B.C., including the RCMP. Solicitor General Shirley Bond introduced the legislation to end police investigations of other police in serious incidents that result in death or serious harm... [LINK]

It's 2011 - about time.

Memo to police in B.C. - covering-up for your brother officers will not be accepted.

Prediction: They'll still fall in groups.

Mounties in Dziekanski Taser case charged with perjury

Perjury charges have now been laid against the four Mounties who confronted Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's airport and repeatedly stunned him with a Taser in October 2007. The officers - Const. Bill Bentley, Const. Kwesi Millington, Const. Gerry Rundell and Cpl. Benjamin Robinson - are accused of lying during the testimony they gave during a public inquiry into Dziekanski's death. [LINK]

What about the bought-and-paid-for so-called "expert" witnesses brought in by Taser International, not to mention the executives too. Some of their testimony was described by Justice Braidwood as being "an insult to the intelligence" and was rejected. Other testimony was in contradiction to the company's official position and other statements made before and after the Inquiry. Their testimony is at least as far fetched as that from the four RCMP Officers, and should also result in perjury charges.

Allen Kephart 'died' immediately after being taser multiple times

43-year old Allen Kephart died after he was tasered multiple times by a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy. ... The deputy used his taser to subdue him. Moments later Kephart was unconscious. Despite efforts to revive him, Kephart died. [LINK]

Alive for 43 years. Dead moments after being tasered multiple times.

Hmmm....

Of course there can be contributing factors. But those contributing factors have failed to kill him for weeks, months, years, decades. He was tasered multiple times, and his immediate reaction was to become unconscious and die. It seems obvious that the use of the taser is in a cause-and-effect relationship with his death. Any other description is a cover-up.


Those that seek to obscure the truth will play evil games with language.

"Man Dies After Being Tasered 34 Times", nothing to see here, move along

A Man Dies After Being Tasered 34 Times, But The State Rules Police Officers Involved Aren't Responsible For His Death [LINK]

... Taser International, maker of the electronic weapon that has become a police mainstay, is ferociously opposed to any suggestion that these stun guns can be lethal. Their spokesmen insist that when someone dies after being Tased, the actual cause of death is some other condition such as drug use, psychiatric- or obesity-related diseases. ...

Their public protestations that tasers-R-safe does not align with their official, legal warnings issued 1 May 2010 [LINK]. They are contradicting themselves so obviously that it is to the point of being farcical. Courts do not look favorably upon such self-contradictions.

It's a fact - tasers can kill.

Allowing a lax Taser Use Policy can permit great evil to occur.

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s.12

The prevalent use of the Taser, in my view, is unconstitutional under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which states in Section 12: "Everyone has a right not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment. ..." [LINK]

Many taser deployments are clear cases of exactly that.

Especially those that involve the use of the taser in "pain compliance" mode (a.k.a. Touch Torture mode, Drive Stun mode, Dry Stun mode).

Also, repeated taser-torturing of those that are incapable of obeying shouted orders.

Four RCMP Officiers charged with perjury - commentary about the evil 'Blue Brotherhood'

Isn't it interesting: Four out of four.

Isn't it interesting: Other than being reassigned, these four have not had any internal discipline imposed.

Isn't it interesting: Paul Pritchard had to hire a darn lawyer to gain return of his video of Mr. Dziekanski's taser-caused death.


Although the rate of intentional misconduct by police officers is not high, it really seems that the rate of coverup is extremely high. It's probably about time for the courts to pay attention to this issue of  The Blue Brotherhood of Silence  (and sometimes even Lies).

Taser Quote of the Month

The Taser was initially conceived as an alternative to deadly force. In practice, it's often fired by police officers hoping to avoid a physical struggle or to get someone to comply with an order. [LINK]

40-year-old Daniel McDonnell was already in a jail cell. He was tasered_and_died. Up to the point of being tasered, he had lived 40 years. Tasered_then_dead.

Google the taser's "Curious Temporal Asymmetry".

Corruption of "Science" revealed by analysis

Lee's study looks at other Taser studies funded by Taser International. He found results come out favorably 75 percent more often than other studies funded independently. "We have seen this with the cigarette companies and now I think we're seeing it again with the Taser companies," said Lee. ... [LINK]

Many of those involved in mass production of so-called "scientific" studies are financially linked to Taser International. Unsurprisingly, their "scientific" studies essentially never find any danger with tasers.

The danger that has now been revealed is the corruption of the scientific method.

Taser International is following in the footsteps of Big Tobacco.

By the way, did anyone bother to go back and jail any of the bought-and-paid-for scientists that were in the pocket of Big Tobacco? There should be severe penalties to go along with the stock options.

Same thing for these more-modern scoundrels that are in the pocket of Taser International.