Pinellas County Taser Deaths - Excusable Or Not?
June Maxam
North Country Gazette
7 May 2008
Between June 2001 and June 2007, there were at least 245 cases of deaths of subjects soon after having been shocked using Tasers. Of these cases, in seven cases, medical examiners said tasers were a cause or a contributing factor or could not be ruled out as a cause of death.
In 16 cases, coroners and other officials stated that a taser was a secondary or contributory factor of death.
In dozens of cases, coroners cited excited delirium as cause of death. Excited delirium has been questioned as a medical diagnosis.
Several deaths occurred as a result of injuries sustained in struggles. In a few of these cases, head injury due to falling after being shocked contributed to later death.
In 2005, a medical examiner ruled for the first time that a taser was the primary factor in a death. [...]
Summary: The price of oil shot up last week by more than 8%. Various reasons have been trotted out for the rise in oil prices, but none of them seem to account for it. Oil prices have almost exactly doubled in the past year ($62.51 on May 11, 2007) at a time when supplies are plentiful and the world economy is weakening. A year ago, by comparison, gold was at $672 an ounce.
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