Web About Health - Health-and-Fitness

Guidant Pacemaker Recall

On July 19, 2005 Guidant Corporation have recalled many pacemakers because of a potentially fatal flaw in nine units of their devices. The company says there have been 69 units from these groups that have undergone some sort of failure. Between 1997 and 2000, 78,000 pacemakers were manufactured and all are suspected to have this defect. Over 18,000 of these pacemakers are still in use today in the United States.

Guidant Pacemakers are small devices implanted into the patient’s chest. There is a wire that connects directly to the heart which regulates the heartbeat by the means of subtle yet continuous electric shocks. These Guidant pacemakers have a malfunctioning hermetic seal that might cause moisture to seep in and damage the unit. There has been at least one death thought to be related to this feature. The units being recalled are the Pulsar Max, Pulsar, Discovery, Discovery II, Meridian, Virtus Plus II, Intelis II, Contak TR and the Pulsar Max II.

Because of this critical failure Guidant recommends that doctors use their discretion in dealing with the unique needs of patients and to consider replacing these devices in patients who depend on them. Some of they symptoms indicating your pacemaker might be malfunctioning include shortness of breath, dizziness, lightheadedness and prolonged fast heart rate.

To learn more about the Guidant Pacemaker Recall or the Guidant Defibrillator Recall please visit http://www.sddefenselawyers.com/guidant-pacemaker-recall/ . This article may be freely reprinted as long as this resource box is included and all links stay intact as hyper-links.

Read similar articles: