Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

July 6, 2008 8:04:40 AM CDT

Learn about Newser Points »

Back to the grid

Medtronic Pulls Defibrillator Wires After 5 Deaths

Posted Oct 15, 07 11:34 AM CDT in Business,  Technology,  Science & Health    Editor's Choice

(Newser) – Medtronic is halting sales of a wire that connects defibrillators implanted in the chests of cardiac patients to their hearts. The wires have been shown to fracture and deliver an accidental jolt  to the heart, which can be uncomfortable and may have played a role in five deaths. An estimated 235,000 people worldwide have defibrillators with the lead in question, the Sprint Fidelis line.

The risk of malfunction is low, says a Medtronic doc, but "we're being super-cautious and conservative about this." Medtronic is not recommending that patients already wearing the wires have them replaced, because the operation would likely be more risky than the danger from the part itself. VP Dick Cheney has a Medtronic device, but his predates the introduction of the dodgy wires.

Sources Wall Street Journal, New York Times

Editor Recommended

Related News

  • Family Blames Airline for Woman's Death

    Feb 25, 08 3:28 PM CST
    Family Blames Airline for Woman's Death A woman who died en route from Haiti to New York received assistance from the flight crew and fellow passengers, American Airlines said today, disputing the victim's family's account of the incident. "Don't let me die," Carine Desir's cousin recalls her saying after a flight attendant refused to give her oxygen. "Oxygen was administered," an American spokesman said, "and the defibrillator was applied as well." More »

  • Supreme Court Ruling Boosts Medical Tech

    Feb 20, 08 6:20 PM CST
    Supreme Court Ruling Boosts Medical Tech A Supreme Court ruling today makes it nearly impossible for patients and their families to sue makers of federally approved medical devices under state law. The court ruled 8-1 in favor of cardiovascular device company Medtronic, dismissing a suit brought by a patient injured after one of the company's balloon catheters burst during an angioplasty, the New York Times reports. More »

  • Study: Hospitals Too Slow to Shock Hearts

    Jan 2, 08 7:42 PM CST
    Study: Hospitals Too Slow to Shock Hearts American hospitals are taking too long to revive the hearts of patients who suffer cardiac arrest, a study finds. Electric shock from a defibrillator can restart a stopped heart, but only if it is done quickly. The American Heart Association recommends that patients in cardiac arrest receive treatment within two minutes, but 30% wait longer, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »

  • Docs Replace Cheney's Heart Implant

    Jul 29, 07 8:15 AM CDT
    Docs Replace Cheney's Heart Implant Doctors have replaced Dick Cheney's defibrillator "without complication," a spokeswoman for the VP says. A checkup last month revealed that the battery in the 6-year-old cardiac implant was running low, and yesterday doctors performed a routine procedure to swap out the power source without affecting the wires that connect to the heart, the AP reports. More »

A faulty wire in the Medtronic implant defibrillator has prompted a recall of the potentially dangerous devices.   (Shutterstock.com)
Vice President Dick Cheney   (Getty Images)
A defibrillator (AP Photo/Joe Nicholson)   (Associated Press)
An ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator) with pacemaker.   (Shutterstock.com)
prev    next
play

Threads (1 of 3)

Tags

defibrillator  • Medtronic


Loading...

Loading...

Related Threads: Pharma Misbehaving, Heart Health, Angioplasty

Next story from this section »

Today's Most Popular


Other Science & Health Stories

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Newser gives you more news in less time. We search for the best and most important stories all over the web, read them for you, and deliver concise and sharp summaries—along with links to the full text. Newser provides a way to stay on top of an ever-expanding horizon of news and opinion—politics, sports, business, trends, technology, personalities, crimes, and controversies. Newser keeps you not just better informed, but, with our signature graphic interface and smart condensed format, more enjoyably informed.

Learn more »