A familiar pattern: tasered, "trouble breathing", dead

Hudson Valley man dies after being tasered by police

A Rhinebeck man died Wednesday after police used a taser to subdue him after responding to a call for a potential drug overdose and domestic dispute. James J. Healy, 44, was pronounced dead at Northern Dutchess Hospital shortly after the incident, according to State Police [via the Kingston Daily Freeman]. Healy, who doesn’t live at the home on Stone Quarry Road, was asked to leave, but was uncooperative, police said. A struggle ensued and Healy was tasered by a Dutchess County Sheriff’s deputy. Once he was in control, Healy was having trouble breathing and was taken to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead. A cause of death is still pending. [LINK]

Taser International has claimed a statistically-massive safety margin of at least 15-to-1. At one point there was even a so-called "study" that claimed that cocaine use made tasers safer. So if tasers in combination with drugs are even more deadly than drugs alone, then Taser International has some explaining to do...