In case you missed this

Uncategorized

We feel no compunction at giving the occasional poke to the Burlington Free Press when we think it's deserved, but there's no question that they still have the ability to commit journalism. In fact, although there are some adjustment issues in dealing with their new format, my sense is that it has given them the ability to do longer, more investigative reporting, and this is an important benefit.

If you missed the paper over the weekend you should go back and read this story about “excited delirium syndrome”,  the made-up malady that police use to evade responsibility when they kill people with Tasers or other action.

Actually, the story doesn't come down on whether excited delirium syndrom is made up, but the conclusion is pretty hard to miss.

For instance, it seems to be pretty hard to find someone who's not on the payroll of Taser International who even believes this condition exists. In fact, the expert that Taser pays to do these studies admits that  “It’s not easy . . . to diagnose excited delirium in arrest-related deaths. ” Apparently getting paid by Taser to find it and to lobby for excited delirium findings in Taser-related deaths makes it a little easier.

 As I say, it's worth reading the entire story.

Also, congratulations to Matt Ryan and the Burlington Free Press for their coverage. 

2 thoughts on “In case you missed this”

  1. Jack McCullough wrote:

    […] In fact, the expert that Taser pays to do these studies […]

    Although it appears to be true Deborah Mash has been paid by Taser International to be a witness on its behalf in court cases brought against the company*(1), as I understand it, there is nothing within either the Burlington Free Press article or other articles come across elsewhere that clearly indicate that Taser in fact does pay Deborah Mash to do research and studies on its behalf.

    1:

    Burlington Free Press article (here; page 2):

    […]

    Mash also says excited delirium can kill. She has provided paid expert testimony on the condition in lawsuits against Taser International, but says the manufacturer has never funded her research at the University of Miami’s Brain Endowment Bank.

    […]

    Miami NewTimes (here; page 4)

    […] Founder of UM’s groundbreaking Excited Delirium Education, Research and Information Center, Mash probably hasn’t helped matters by providing paid expert testimony to Arizona-based Taser, International. […]

    […]

    In a 2009 deposition for a civil case against Taser, Mash admitted to earning $16,000 from Taser for excited delirium testimony the year before. In the court interview, she claimed to have forgotten how much the company paid her in previous years, and she recently refused to tell New Times how much Taser has paid her since. “I haven’t done my taxes,” says Mash, co-owner of an $868,000 North Bay Village house with ex-husband, former Miami-Dade Democratic Party chair, and mayor of the village, Joe Geller. The neurologist adds that Taser has never funded her research.

    Mash insists she has testified only as an expert on excited delirium and has no opinion on the safety of stun guns. “Who cares about the Taser?” she squawks. “I don’t care about the Taser, and I’ll tell you why. Excited delirium was happening before the Taser. Excited delirium was happening in the 1800s, in Bell’s institutionalized psych patients. If it happened with pepper spray, you’d say, ‘Oh, it’s the pepper spray that’s killing them.'”

    The same goes for restraints, hog ties, and baton strikes, Mash says. But the bottom line: “We have some cases where there were no police involved, and they still died.”

    […]

    That stated and although I have not come across information that indicates this is indeed the case, one wonders whether or not either Deborah Mash or her spouse or others on her research team have been on the receiving end of other forms of compensation from Taser International, including stock options; given it has been previously reported about how Taser has provided stock options to police officers who afterwards advocated for their departments to purchase Tasers (here, here and, another — must-read — article, here); and, if I understand correctly, possibly also to others who were involved in some capacity in research as well (here).

Comments are closed.