by TChris

Tasers are billed as the nonlethal alternative to bullets, but that may not always be the case. Since 2001, fifty people have died after being shocked with Tasers. The manufacturer bases its safety claims on tests conducted on a pig and five dogs.

Company-paid researchers, not independent scientists, conducted the studies, which were never published in a peer-reviewed journal. Taser has no full-time medical director and has never created computer models to simulate the effect of its shocks, which are difficult to test in human clinical trials for ethical reasons.

In any event, testing may not reflect how the weapon is used in the field.

In training, volunteers usually receive a single shock of a half-second or less. In the field, Tasers automatically fire for five seconds. If an officer holds down the trigger, a Taser will discharge longer. And suspects are often hit repeatedly.

Because Tasers are marketed as nonlethal, they may be overused.