American Heart Association: Tasers can cause death Tags: DICTATORSHIP For the first time, amid continuing controversy and lawsuits over use of Tasers, a scientific, peer-reviewed study released this week shows the electronic stun guns can cause cardiac arrest and death. We had a cardiac expert call into the radio show two years ago who said that if the taser jolt hits the heart at a specific point in the beat cycle, it will throw the heart into fibrillation leading to cardiac arrest and death.