Judge Orders Chief Medical Examiner to Change Autopsy Report

Recently a judge overseeing a civil suit involving Taser International vs. Ohio medical examiner Dr.
Lisa Kohler ruled that the medical examiner had to take out any reference in three of her reports alluding to a
cause of death by Taser exposure. Dr. Kohler had noted in her report that electrical shock from a Taser
was at least partially responsible for the deaths of three individuals in three separate cases.
Taser International is well known for its aggressive legal stance in defending its product and has won
all 68 of its civil lawsuits. The president of the National Association of Medical Examiners Jeffrey
Jentzen says that " this ruling sets a dangerous precedent for rule of law in America. " He goes on to say that members of the association are looking further into the matter and are looking at opposing opinions from Taser Internationals research. Jeffrey also goes on to say that " Our organization feels that it violates the physician's ability to make a medical decision. Ordering a professional physician to change or alter their records is in violation of their right to practice medicine. "

One example of some rather dubious research used for supporting Taser safety specs can be found at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17983716 Briefly this report says " A 15-s discharge from a TASER X26 CEW does not increase the core body temperature of resting, non-environmentally stressed adult subjects. " To which my first thought was " Outside of laboratory research conditions, where would a TASER X26 CEW be used on a resting, non-environmentally stressed adult subject? " The only conclusion I could arrive to is that the product would not be used in such circumstances. I can think of no incidents where police used a Taser against a suspect when he was resting and not under one or more known types of stress. Many times Tasers are used against suspects when they are under extreme anxiety and/or stress and considering the statement from the above report this was not taken into consideration.

Dr. Matthew Stanbrook of the Canadian Medical Association has called for " an independent review of
stun guns " and claims that most of the existing research was done by or for Taser International. The
laws of capitalism show that it would not be in Taser International's best interest to share any negative
or harmful results from its body of research to the public at large. Steve Tuttle, the vice president of
Taser International's communications division responded to these claims that " Taser International's
products have been demonstrated by numerous medical studies to be safe and effective. Taser
International therefore aggressively defends our products in all litigation brought against the company
with the best legal, scientific and medical expertise available. "

Many doctors and researchers around the world disagree with his attestations and raised concerns about
possible links to negative outcomes due to the state of being at the time of a confrontation with
authorities. Amnesty International has reported on hundreds of deaths around the world after having
stun guns used on the individuals in question. A United Nations committee says that stun guns cause
acute pain and are a form of torture.

Take all of this into consideration when you learn that police are more and more often using stun guns
in interactions that are not likely to end violently and it paints a grim picture as to being an acceptable
means of defense for our law enforcement officials.

What can you do about this problem? First print this out and give a copy to everyone in your neighborhood. Plan a neighborhood meeting and make plans to go to your city council in force to ask for local prohibition of Taser usage. Be nice at first, offer your support if they accept the will of the people. Be nasty if necessary and follow through with voting them out of their positions and voting in people who are more friendly to your position if they refuse to act on your request. Most Americans have indicated they want change here in America. What most Americans don't realize is that change starts at home with them. You must become active in local politics if you really want change. You must use the rights given to you if you want change. Hold your elected representatives accountable for what they say and replace them quickly if they refuse to honor their promises.