BMJ 2015;351:h6070 doi: 10.1136/bmj.
h6070 (Published 17 November 2015)
Feature
BRIEFING
Tasers
Tasers are increasingly being used by UK police yet recent studies suggest the health risks are
greater than previously thought. Owen Dyer reports
Owen Dyer freelance journalist, Montreal
How much are Tasers being used?
Conducted electrical weapons are used by over 16 000 police
forces in 107 countries, and most use the X26, made by Taser
International of Arizona. In the United Kingdom, use of Tasers
tripled between 2009, when police officers not trained in
firearms were first allowed to carry them, and 2013. Police drew
Tasers on 10 380 UK civilians aged 14-85 years in 2013 and
fired them in 20% of those cases. Worldwide, Tasers have
shocked people roughly 1.35 million times, 650 000 of them
during arrests and stops and 700 000 during police training.
How do they work?
The pistol shaped device uses compressed nitrogen to fire two
barbed electrical probes that deliver a pulsed 50 000 volt shock,
causing intense skeletal muscle contractions and pain. The X26
also has a “drive-stun” mode, in which two electrodes at the
front of the weapon are held against the body, causing pain but
not muscle contractions. A pull of the trigger delivers five
seconds of current, more if the trigger is held down. Tasers were
designed as an alternative to firearms and they are marketed as
a “less lethal” option not as a non-lethal device.
What are the risks?
A 2010 editorial in The BMJ highlighted several risks associated
with Tasers but concluded that their overall safety was good,
though better documentation of incidents was needed.1 Record
keeping has since improved, and the Home Office now regularly
publishes detailed statistics. Of particular concern is the frequent
police use of Tasers against mentally ill patients, often within
hospitals and care homes. This has prompted the home secretary,
Theresa May, to order a review of police use of force against
mentally distressed people.
Known health risks include eye injuries,2 tonic-clonic seizures
in healthy people,3 seizures in people with epilepsy,
pneumothorax,4 skin burns, and muscle, joint, and tendon
injuries.5 The most dangerous risk is head injury from
uncontrolled falls, which has led to deaths. Tasers have been
owen_dyer@hotmail.com
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Page 1 of 2
FEATURE
shown to produce a short lived decline in cognitive function,
which resolves within an hour.6 7
Do Tasers affect the heart?
Much of the existing research, especially on volunteers, is
sponsored by the manufacturer, so its neutrality has been
questioned.8 The major dispute surrounds the potential to induce
lasting arrhythmias through myocardial capture. Taser first
observed this in 2011 when testing a prototype next generation
replacement for the X26.9 That weapon was redesigned and the
effect disappeared in subsequent tests.
But the UK Ministry of Defence’s scientific advisory committee
on the medical implications of less lethal weapons warns that
“it would be prudent to assume that a similar effect could be
exerted by the Taser X26.”10
More recently, a study of eight cases concluded that Tasers had
caused ventricular fibrillation.11 Although ventricular fibrillation
has never been produced in tests, volunteers have not included
people with heart disease or alcohol or drug problems or the
high heart rates triggered by a real confrontation.
A US National Institute of Justice review concluded that direct
inducement of cardiac arrhythmias in “a confluence of unlikely
circumstances” was a “plausible but unproven” outcome.12
Contrary to statements on its website, Taser has already lost
one lawsuit: it was found negligent for failing to warn officers
of the dangers of discharging into the chest and giving lengthy
shocks. Darryl Turner, 17, who refused to leave a North Carolina
supermarket after being made redundant, died of ventricular
fibrillation shortly after he was “tasered” for 37 seconds.13
In Britain a court has just attributed the first death to use of a
Taser. Jordon Begley, a 23 year old factory worker, died from
cardiac arrest two hours after Greater Manchester police used
a Taser on him in 2013. An inquest concluded in July that the
nine second shock he received in conjunction with two
“distraction strikes”—punches to the head from officers while
handcuffing him—“more than materially contributed” to the
stress that led to his cardiac arrest.
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BMJ 2015;351:h6070 doi: 10.1136/bmj.h6070 (Published 17 November 2015) Page 2 of 2

FEATURE

Competing interests: I have read and understood BMJ policy on 8 Azadani PN, Tseng ZH, Ermakov S, et al. Funding source and author affiliation in TASER
research are strongly associated with a conclusion of device safety. Am Heart J
declaration of interests and have no relevant interests to declare. 2011;162:533-7.
9 Ho JD, Dawes DM, Reardon RF, et al. Human cardiovascular effects of a new generation
Provenance and peer review: Commissioned; not externally peer
conducted electrical weapon. Forensic Sci Int 2011;204:50-7.
reviewed. 10 Statement on the medical implications of use of the Taser X26 and M26 less-lethal systems
on children and vulnerable adults. January 2012. www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/
uploads/attachment_data/file/443842/DOMILL14_20120127_TASER06.2.pdf.
1 Payne-James J, Sheridan B, Smith Graham. Medical implications of the Taser. BMJ
11 Zipes DP. TASER electronic control devices can cause cardiac arrest in humans.
2010;340:c853.
Circulation 2014;129:101-11.
2 Han JS, Chopra A, Carr D. Ophthalmic injuries from a TASER. Can J Emerg Med
12 National Institutes of Justice. Special report. Study of deaths following electro-muscular
2009;11:90-3.
disruption. 2011. www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/233432.pdf.
3 Bui ET, Sourkes M, Wennberg R. Generalized tonic-clonic seizure after a Taser shot to
13 Healy P. Judge upholds verdict that taser killed teen suspect. NBC South Carolina 2012
the head. CMAJ 2009;180:625-6.
Mar 28. www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/North-Carolina-Police-Judge-Upholds-Verdict-
4 Hinchey PR, Subramaniam G. Pneumothorax as a complication after TASER activation.
that-Taser-Killed-Suspect-144743585.html.
Prehosp Emerg Care 2009;13:532-5.
5 Kroll MW. Physiology and pathology of TASER electronic control devices. J Forens Leg
Med 2009;16:173-7. Cite this as: BMJ 2015;351:h6070
6 Dawes DM, Ho JD, Vincent AS, et al. The neurocognitive effects of simulated use-of-force
scenarios. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 2014;10:9-17. © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2015
7 White MD, Ready JT, Kane RJ, Dario LM. Examining the effects of the TASER on cognitive
functioning: findings from a pilot study with police recruits. J Exp Criminol 2014;10:267-90.

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