Doctors blame taser stun gun for fibrillation

September 2, 2005
ALEX BERENSON, New York Times

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.

The letter, written by two doctors at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, appears to be the first medically documented case of ventricular fibrillation caused by a Taser gun. Tasers are pistol-like weapons that fire electrified barbs up to 25 feet, immobilizing people with painful shocks.

Taser International, which makes the guns, has said that Tasers cannot cause fibrillation, a condition in which the heart loses the ability to pump blood. If not immediately reversed, fibrillation causes death within minutes. In the Chicago case, which occurred last February, the teenage crime suspect received immediate medical attention and survived after the police shot him with the Taser.

Dr. Wayne H. Franklin, a pediatric electrophysiologist at Children's Memorial and one of the letter's authors, said the teenager would have died if he had not been received immediate care. An electrocardiogram or heart rhythm test, administered to the teenager, proved that he suffered fibrillation, Dr. Franklin said.

The case illustrates the risks of Tasers as well as the need for police officers to carry automated defibrillators, which put out a large electric shock that restores the heart's rhythm, Dr. Franklin said. Police officers should be aware that Tasers can cause fibrillation, even though the risks may be small, he said.

"I don't know why it happens to one person and why it doesn't happen to another," he said. "Not everyone who gets hit by lightning dies, either."

In response to the letter, Taser forwarded an e-mail message from Dr. Richard M. Luceri, director of the Arrhythmia Center at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in which he said: "The conclusion implied by the authors is purely speculative and not backed by scientific evidence."

About 130 people have died after being shocked by a Taser, including nearly 70 in the last 12 months, according to Amnesty International, which has called for a moratorium on the use of the guns. In most cases, autopsy reports have not found the Taser to be the cause of death.

In 2003 and 2004, use of Tasers spread rapidly among American police departments as officers sought ways to control suspects without fighting with them or using firearms.

But sales of the guns have plunged this year amid safety questions. Tasers cause the muscles to contract uncontrollably. Repeated Taser shocks may cause the blood to become highly acidic and the body to overheat, both potentially fatal conditions, scientists say.