Workers Alleging Injuries from TASER Jolt File Lawsuit

By Richard Seward

Published on May 31, 2007

The lawsuit was filed after an incident at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Gerald Kern and Ricardo Banda were attempting to restrain a female patient when Officer Brent Halford shot the woman with his TASER stun gun. The two hospital employees allege that they were injured when the energy from Halford’s TASER traveled through the woman and shocked them. Kern and Banda claim that since the incident they have experienced memory loss, pain, and seizures.

A TASER International representative defended the safety of the company’s product, citing regular training procedures in which a subject is held by two people and shot with a TASER. According to the representative, the support people have never reported being shocked or suffering injuries.

A police spokesman declined to comment on the allegations against Officer Halford, citing state confidentiality laws. However, he did say that Halford had been placed on suspension.

In the past six years, Amnesty International reports, there have been more than 250 TASER-related deaths in the United States.

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