Faulty Medtronic Defibrillator

Jennifer Moore

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A faulty component in a Meditronic defibrillator may have caused five deaths and malfunctioned in thousands of individuals. Meditronic is one of the nation's largest manufacturers of implanted heart devices. The defibrillator is used to shock the faltering heart back into normal rhythm. Meditronic issued a warning yesterday to doctors that the electric "lead, " known as the Sprint Fidelis, in its defibrillators may malfunction sending an electric jolt or may fail to work altogether.

The faulty component is an electrical "lead," or a wire that connects the heart to a defibrillator, a device that shocks faltering hearts back into normal rhythm. The company is urging all of the roughly 235,000 patients with the lead, known as the Sprint Fidelis, to see their doctors to make sure it has not developed a fracture that can cause the device to misread heart-rhythm data.

Such a malfunction can cause the device to either deliver an unnecessary electrical jolt or fail to provide a life-saving one to a patient in need. In most cases, the defibrillators can be reprogrammed without surgery to minimize the likelihood of faulty shocks.

Meditronic has recalled all Fidelis leads that have not been implanted yet and have stopped all sales.

If you have a Meditronic defibrillator, you should consult your physician immediately.

Additionally, our attorneys at Grossman & Moore are already representing individuals who have suffered serious injury due to Meditronic's defillbrator malfunctioning. Contact us today if this has happened to you.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Drugs, Medical Devices, and Implants.