NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Taser International was hit with a published report questioning how safe its stun gun is, especially when used on children, as well as the death of a Louisiana man who was stunned by police there following a traffic stop.
The Miami Herald reported that some scientists from testing firm Underwriters Laboratories question the application of their studies by Taser (Research), which uses a chart in its training manual that says its weapon delivers a shock well below a threshold determined by UL as safe for electrical shocks for children.
''For them to say that Taser is safe based on that (study), I don't accept that,'' Walter Skuggevig, a research engineer at UL, told the Herald. "It's not an appropriate limit for that kind of product.''
Taser didn't even wait for publication of the article Sunday to respond, issuing a statement disputing the report on Saturday.
"Our confidence in Taser technology is based on a body of overwhelming evidence that Tasers are generally safe and effective -- not on any one guideline or standard," said the statement from company spokesman Steve Tuttle. "It is important to realize that Underwriters Laboratories' guidelines were not the end result of Taser safety testing, but were the beginning. Since that time, Taser has garnered additional research from both the medical and scientific communities specifically addressing Taser type pulses."
The Herald was reporting on the risk posed by Taser to children following two incidents in November when Miami-Dade police jolted a 6-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. Those children were apparently unharmed by the shocks.
But the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Sunday that a 35-year old man died Saturday less than 48 hours after Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputies twice used a Taser stun gun to subdue him following a traffic stop. Patrick Fleming of Kenner, La., was pronounced dead about 3:15 p.m. at Ochsner Hospital, where he had been taken early Friday in critical condition, according to the newspaper.
The newspaper said the sheriff's department would not comment and no cause of death has yet been determined. It said this is the second fatality associated with Taser use by Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputies in the past six months.
Amnesty International reported Nov. 30 that more than 70 people in the U.S.A. and Canada have died since 2001 after being electro-shocked with Taser guns. It has called for a suspension in use of Tasers until further study is done on their effects.
Shares of Taser were little changed in pre-market trading on Inet early Monday.
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