"Excited delirium" strikes again
TODAY'S QUESTION, IN HONOUR OF TREVOR GRIMOLFSON (and because his family and friends DESERVE to know) IS:
How did we get from HERE:
From the Toronto Star
February 13, 2009
"...The RCMP has admitted that firing a Taser poses a risk of death" ... "have also dropped the term "excited delirium" - a phrase that had no medical foundation, and was criticized earlier by the Commons committee, the RCMP's public complaints commissioner, independent consultants and civil liberty groups."
To HERE just over a month later:
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
March 26, 2009
Edmonton man who died after Taser shock was killed by excited delirium: Report
Alberta Justice says a man who was Tasered by Edmonton police in October died from a condition called excited delirium — not from the effects of being hit by the electronic stun gun.
Trevor Grimolfson, 38, died on Oct. 29 after going on a rampage in a pawn shop.
The provincial medical examiner said the cause of death was excited delirium brought on by multiple drug toxicity.
Officers on the scene said Grimolfson could not be controlled after just one Taser use, so a second electronic jolt was needed.
More than 25 people have died in Canada after being stunned by Tasers.
The U.S. company that makes the devices points out that they have never been directly proven to have caused a death in Canada.
The RCMP yesterday announced they'd loosened a restriction on multiple Taser shocks amid growing evidence that repeated stun gun jolts increase risk of death.
A new statistical analysis by Montreal biomedical engineer Pierre Savard suggests the chances of someone dying after being hit with a police Taser increase the more times they are stunned.
That research comes as a public inquiry examines the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who got five shocks from an RCMP Taser in October 2007 at the Vancouver airport. An amateur video of Dziekanski writhing on the floor was beamed around the world, sparking new questions about stun gun safety.
Savard carried out the study using a database of over 3,200 RCMP Taser incidents from 2002 to 2007 compiled by The Canadian Press and the CBC/Radio-Canada. He also looked at an Amnesty International study of Taser cases involving more than 300 deaths in the United States.
During the six-year period, nine people died in Canada after being Tasered by the RCMP. In at least seven of the nine deaths, accounts indicate the person was jolted multiple times.
And here it is again, from the Edmonton Journal:
Taser didn’t kill man who smashed pawnshop: medical examiner
By Journal Staff, edmontonjournal.com
March 26, 2009 5:01 PM
EDMONTON — Trevor Grimolfson did not die from the Taser strike he received from city police last October after he busted up a Stony Plain Road pawnshop, according to the medical examiner's office. "The cause of death was excited delirium brought on by drugs he'd taken," said Alberta Justice spokesman David Dear. Grimolfson, 38, was Tasered twice by Edmonton police after he attacked a man at his tattoo parlour and went on to smash windows and destroy a nearby pawnshop. He died shortly afterwards. A fatality review board will determine whether or not a fatality inquiry will be recommended. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is still investigating to determine whether or not the police officers involved will press criminal charges. Alberta Solicitor General spokesman Andy Weiler said no one from ASIRT will comment on the medical examiner's report until the investigation is complete.
How did we get from HERE:
From the Toronto Star
February 13, 2009
"...The RCMP has admitted that firing a Taser poses a risk of death" ... "have also dropped the term "excited delirium" - a phrase that had no medical foundation, and was criticized earlier by the Commons committee, the RCMP's public complaints commissioner, independent consultants and civil liberty groups."
To HERE just over a month later:
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
March 26, 2009
Edmonton man who died after Taser shock was killed by excited delirium: Report
Alberta Justice says a man who was Tasered by Edmonton police in October died from a condition called excited delirium — not from the effects of being hit by the electronic stun gun.
Trevor Grimolfson, 38, died on Oct. 29 after going on a rampage in a pawn shop.
The provincial medical examiner said the cause of death was excited delirium brought on by multiple drug toxicity.
Officers on the scene said Grimolfson could not be controlled after just one Taser use, so a second electronic jolt was needed.
More than 25 people have died in Canada after being stunned by Tasers.
The U.S. company that makes the devices points out that they have never been directly proven to have caused a death in Canada.
The RCMP yesterday announced they'd loosened a restriction on multiple Taser shocks amid growing evidence that repeated stun gun jolts increase risk of death.
A new statistical analysis by Montreal biomedical engineer Pierre Savard suggests the chances of someone dying after being hit with a police Taser increase the more times they are stunned.
That research comes as a public inquiry examines the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who got five shocks from an RCMP Taser in October 2007 at the Vancouver airport. An amateur video of Dziekanski writhing on the floor was beamed around the world, sparking new questions about stun gun safety.
Savard carried out the study using a database of over 3,200 RCMP Taser incidents from 2002 to 2007 compiled by The Canadian Press and the CBC/Radio-Canada. He also looked at an Amnesty International study of Taser cases involving more than 300 deaths in the United States.
During the six-year period, nine people died in Canada after being Tasered by the RCMP. In at least seven of the nine deaths, accounts indicate the person was jolted multiple times.
And here it is again, from the Edmonton Journal:
Taser didn’t kill man who smashed pawnshop: medical examiner
By Journal Staff, edmontonjournal.com
March 26, 2009 5:01 PM
EDMONTON — Trevor Grimolfson did not die from the Taser strike he received from city police last October after he busted up a Stony Plain Road pawnshop, according to the medical examiner's office. "The cause of death was excited delirium brought on by drugs he'd taken," said Alberta Justice spokesman David Dear. Grimolfson, 38, was Tasered twice by Edmonton police after he attacked a man at his tattoo parlour and went on to smash windows and destroy a nearby pawnshop. He died shortly afterwards. A fatality review board will determine whether or not a fatality inquiry will be recommended. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is still investigating to determine whether or not the police officers involved will press criminal charges. Alberta Solicitor General spokesman Andy Weiler said no one from ASIRT will comment on the medical examiner's report until the investigation is complete.
Is Alberta Justice (like BC Justice) just having one big long nap until this nasty anti-taser business blows over?? Seems they haven't been keeping up with what's new in news ... they're not getting with the program.
1 comment:
MAKES SENSE
"multiple drug toxicity"
DP
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