Medtronic Recall Lawyers
What are Implantable Heart Devices?
The most common is a pacemaker which is designed for hearts that beat too slowly. Pacemakers sense when a heart rate falls and administers a relatively small jolt to the heart muscle to speed it back up. A defibrillator is a small device implanted under a patient’s skin near the shoulder. Insulated lead wires are threaded through veins, connecting the defibrillator to specific parts of the heart. Defibrillators monitor heart rhythms. The technology itself is impressive and lifesaving. If a defibrillator detects an unstable heart rhythm, it gives an electric shock to the heart to shock the patient’s heart back to normal. Defibrillators’ electronic shock is usually approximately 750 volts - more than 100 times the shock delivered by a pacemaker. You would think that a thousand little things could go wrong with a defibrillator or pacemaker but, historically, defibrillators have performed very well and have been shown they can be safe and effective. A 2006 study of more than 2.6 million pacemakers and defibrillators implanted between 1990 and 2002 found that only 0.65% malfunctioned.
What exactly is a Defibrillator Lead?
A defibrillator contains two parts. The first is a high tech computerized device that monitors the patient’s heart rhythms and makes the decision as to whether the electrical shock needs to be given. The leads are wires that doctors thread through the patient’s veins leading to specific parts of the heart. Leads stretch from the device through the veins to the heart. Essentially, the leads then are the messengers of information from the heart to the device itself. It both receives the information of the abnormal heart rhythm and sends the shock to the heart when an abnormal heart rhythm is detected.
Who is Medtronic?
Medtronic is a Fortune 500 company based in Minnesota that makes drugs and medical devices for heart conditions, brain disorders like Parkinson's, chronic pain, insulin pumps, and a whole host of other aliments. There is no question that Medtronic has provided products and services that have been of great help to a large number of people worldwide. Economically, Medtronic has been very successful. Although its stock price fell with news of the defibrillator lead recall, Medtronic's annual sales have more than doubled and its profits have almost tripled since 2001. As discussed below, it may well be this success led to its undoing in the Medtronic lead recall recall which is sure to cost Medtronic a fortune in loss of market share, lawsuit verdicts and settlements, and consumer and physician goodwill.
What is the issue with Medtronic leads?
The lead's failure can cause the defibrillator to either deliver an unnecessary electrical jolt or, creating the opposite problem, fail to give an electrical shock to a patient with an abnormal heart rhtyhm. In some cases the defibrillators may be able to be reprogrammed without invasive surgery to minimize the risks of the defect.
Which Defibrillators are at issue?
Medronic makes up the great majority of the estimated quarter of a million people who have Sprint Fidelis leads that were recalled. Guidant and St. Jude also had some defibrillators that had Sprint Fidelis leads.
If you have such a unit, you should have a wallet card, you should look for the model numbers that appear alone or begin with 6949, 6948, 6931 and 6930.
If you need more information or want a free consultation to discuss your Medtronic Defibrillator Case or Concerns - call us toll free at 1-800-862-1260.
TRADEMARK NOTICE: Sprint Fidelis is a trademark of Medtronic Corporation.
The Carabin & Shaw Law Firm, its' lawyers and this website is in no way affiliated with Medtronic Corporation. The use of this mark is solely for informational and product identification purposes.
