New England Journal of Medicine - TASERS!!!

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/353/9/958
Volume 353:958-959
September 1, 2005
Number 9

Ventricular Fibrillation after Stun-Gun Discharge

September 02, 2005

original article by Alex Berenson

A shock from a Taser stun gun caused a teenager in Chicago to go into ventricular fibrillation, a usually fatal heart disturbance, according to a letter published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Tasers are pistol-like weapons that fire electrified barbs up to 25 feet, immobilizing people with painful shocks.
Dr. Wayne H. Franklin, a pediatric electrophysiologist at Children’s Memorial and one of the letter’s authors, said that the teenager would have died if he had not received immediate care. An electrocardiogram or heart rhythm test, administered to the teenager, proved that he suffered fibrillation, Dr. Franklin said.
About 130 people have died after being shocked by a Taser, including 70 in the past 12 months, according to Amnesty International, which has called for a moratorium on the use of the guns.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/Arrhythmias/tb/1654
By Neil Osterweil, Senior Associate Editor, MedPage Today September 02, 2005 “An adolescent was subdued with a Taser stun gun and subsequently collapsed," "Paramedics found the adolescent to be in ventricular fibrillation and began performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation within two minutes after the collapse," wrote Paul J. Kim, M.D., and Wayne H. Franklin, M.D., of Children's Memorial Hospital in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine. The letter was accompanied by electrocardiogram tracings showing the boy's heart rhythm before and after defibrillation.
At a meeting of the Academy of Forensic Sciences in February, electrical engineer James Ruggieri made a presentation in which he said that the electrical output of Taser's M26 model succeeds the fibrillation threshold for half the U.S. population. Primary source: New England Journal of Medicine

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/27/AR2005092700706.html
By BETH DeFALCO
The Associated Press Tuesday, September 27, 2005; 5:30 PM
The Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into stun-gun maker Taser International Inc. is now a formal investigation with an expanded scope, the company said Tuesday.
Shares of Taser fell 96 cents, or 13 percent, to close at $6.35 Tuesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market, slipping below its 52-week range of $7.11 to $33.45.