By Jeffrey Krasner, Globe staff
The Boston Globe
Boston Scientific Corp. said on May 15 that a batch of defibrillators from its newly acquired Guidant Corp. unit may stop working prematurely because of an electronic defect that causes the batteries to fail.
The problems, disclosed in a warning letter to doctors, affect 996 defibrillators made by Guidant. No deaths or injuries have been linked to the defect, Boston Scientific said, but the battery failures could prevent the defibrillators from functioning properly and restarting a recipient’s heart. The devices were not recalled.
“We are notifying physicians in a timely, transparent, and responsible manner,” James Tobin, chief executive of the Natick medical device maker, said in a statement. “This is part of an ongoing process to evaluate the field performance of our cardiac rhythm management products.”
Full story: http://www.boston.com/business/healthcare/articles/2006/05/16/boston scientific_warns_of_flaw_in_heart_aids/