A Taser is an electroshock weapon that uses electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles. It has been very often used by many people and especially law enforcement agencies to tackle with miscreants who do not subdue easily. Now, a study has highlighted the ill effects of these tasers and associated them with cardiac arrests and even deaths.

According to Dr. Douglas Zipes, an electro physiologist at Indiana University, when tasers strike the chest, it causes a cardiac electrical capture. This is very dangerous as it can trigger a heart attack. He came to this conclusion after undergoing various animals and clinical trials. His findings have been published in the journal Circulation and include the first peer-reviewed evidence on the matter.

There are over 16,000 law enforcement agencies around the world that use this device. The main motive of this device is to subdue to criminal without getting into a scuffle with him and without causing any substantial injury. But it seems that it in fact is very hazardous and can be fatal. There have been over 500 people that have died after being tased. This calls for stringent measure to be put in place to avoid any such incidences. But still, the overall picture is still vague and only in a dozen cases have the medical examiner ruled that the taser was the reason behind the death.

The manufacturer of the device, Taser International did not comment on the revelations but instead cited a study done by US department of justice, which states that there is no medical evidence that these CEDs pose any significant threat to humans when deployed properly. Moreover, the risks of getting cardiac arrest are pretty low which is why CEDs are preferred more than other weapons.