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.
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