As indications of cardiac risk emerged in its own studies, Taser took months or years to disclose details and issue relevant warnings.Ī decade after it happened, Smith acknowledged, contrary to his earlier statement, that one of Taser's early test animals did suffer a potentially lethal heart disruption, according to a deposition reviewed by Reuters. “It was woefully inadequate and would not have met any scientific standards for testing,” Zipes said in an interview.īecause Tasers sold to police are unregulated, the company has wide latitude to decide what it tells them. "Unfortunately it just seems to be that in addition to the epidemiological challenge we now also confront a simultaneous misinformation epidemic," said Kamradt-Scott.“That certainly was not FDA quality,” said Dr Douglas Zipes, an Indiana University School of Medicine cardiac rhythm expert who has studied the effect of electricity on the heart for more than 40 years and has testified against Taser in wrongful death suits. Misinformation also prospered during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002-2003.Īs well as conspiracy theories about the origins of the virus, rumours also spread across the country that frogs and newborn babies were suddenly speaking and giving advice about how to repel the disease, usually through firecrackers and incense sticks. Shanghai government newspaper Liberation Daily has published a regular round-up of misinformation, including allegations that large numbers of infected patients are coming to the city for treatment, and a claim the virus can be cured by strong curry. The current consensus is that it emerged from a seafood market in Wuhan that also sold exotic wild animal products.Ĭhina usually cracks down heavily on "rumours", and it even arrested Li Wenliang, a doctor who first disclosed the existence of a SARS-like disease in Wuhan at the end of last year and subsequently became its most prominent casualty.īut it has been unable to silence the vast number of outlandish claims circulating on social media channels. They said scientists from around the world "overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife". A team of 27 scientists published a statement in the Lancet medical journal on Tuesday condemning the conspiracy theories, which "do nothing but create fear, rumours and prejudice that jeopardise our global collaboration in the fight against this virus."
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