AMA on tasers (the bit about, ah yeah, DEATH)

AMA: "...(3) CEDs [tasers] may contribute to the death of suspects, either directly or indirectly."

"...directly..."

There's a lot of spin being put on the AMA report.

Keep in mind that Taser International's position on taser safety with respect to inherent internal risk factors such as cardiac effects is extreme. They admit no such risk exists, with the exception of the victim's own problems. Their position is extreme.

Sometimes the taser fanboys will present a slightly more rational face, but they do not speak for Taser International. As is obvious when they're forced by the daily news to acknowledge what others have been pointing out for years - tasers are overused. But their characterization of this as a rare problem is obvious nonsense.

Taser International's official position on Cardiac Safety is that '...if one ping pong ball won't kill you, then neither will a thousand.' You can look this up on their website. It was still there last time I checked.

If Taser International is able to get past this irrational (my opinion) position on taser safety, then (and only then) can the debate shift to discussions about the acceptablity of that risk of death versus others policing tools.

Assuming Taser International survives such a transition.

It's not reasonable to discuss such numerical life-and-death trade-offs while they maintain the position that their number is a neat and perfect "zero".