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Medtronic Cardiac Defibrillator Lawsuit There is constant researches and studies been made these days to improve and excel in the field of Medtronic cardiac defibrillator. Scientists are constantly trying to make this treatment available under the reach of a common man by reducing its cost. The Medtronic recall action isn’t the only fiasco the company has faced in recent years. In February 2005, the company alerted the doctors regarding its family of ICD’s, some of which had a battery manufactured before December 2003. These specific pacemaker-like devices were in danger of fast battery depletion as some had a danger of battery shortage. Once such a short occurs, a quick depletion of the battery takes place which can last anywhere between few hours to few days, after which the device is rendered useless. These devices are surgically implanted in the hearts of patients whose heartbeats are not regular. They are placed underneath the collarbone and give out an electric discharge when the heartbeats start to function abnormally. This battery defect was observed in around 87000 of such devices as well as quickly sent a literal wave of panic in the heart of customers. Thousands of patients rely of life-saving defibrillators out of which almost 75% are manufactured by Medtronic. Around 13000 patients chose to surgically remove these faulty devices. Presently, the company is doing its best to pacify the angered patients by offering a free replacement which costs as much as $20000 and additionally, pay several thousand dollars as for incurred expense. Still, there are no fixed plans for the second surgery which is very costly for any average customer. Following devices were found to be defective as they were manufactured from April 2001 to December 2003: 1. Maximo VR/DR 2. Marquis VR/DR 3. InSync III Protect CRT-D 4. InSync I/II/III Marquis Before this event, Medtronic recalled as well as then subsequently replaced more than 16000 defibrillators manufactured from 2001 to 2003. Here again, it was found that a battery flaw might make the unit ineffective. Next year, in 2004, Medtronic had to recall their GEM DR ICD’s and Micro Jewell II units. Due to such repeated incidents, Medtronic has been challenged with several Cardiac defibrillator lawsuits. Till this date, however, most of these claims are pending. It is assumed that Medtronic will choose to settle them out of the court. In October 2005, Medtronic had to suspend sales of its ICD’s which had Sprint Fidelis leads attached to them. This action was taken as the unit was linked with some of the patient’s deaths. More than 268000 patients around the world currently have the defibrillator implanted and all of them are advised to immediately seek their physician. One can opt for compensation if they have one of these devices replaced or plan to replace irrespective of whether they suffered any complications or not. Most of the patients thought to undergo a replacement surgery to remove the faulty Medtronic leads and replace them with others. However, the doctor’s advice against of this as the actual surgery of re-implantation poses some serious threats. These are certainly graver than those posed by the Sprint Fidelis leads. The safe bet is to implant another defibrillator lead keeping the Sprint Fidelis one but only ‘capping’ it.
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Robert Whitney is author of article written on Sprint Fidelis lawsuit & Medtronic lead recall. For more information, please visit :www.medtronicleadrecallcenter.com
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