Elderly Man Is Suing Medtronic After Having Defective Defibrillator Implanted 2 Weeks Before Sprint Fidelis Lead Recall
November 30th, 2007 amy
Tom Kern, age 75, would like to live to be 76. After visiting his doctor for an irregular heart beat, he was implanted with a Medtronic defibrillator. A few weeks later, while he was watching the news, he learned the defibrillator he’d just been implanted with has the potential to shock him to death. The defibrillator had been recalled for its potentially defective Sprint Fidelis leads only a few days after his implant.
WESH 2 News recently did a report on Mr. Kern, who is now among the many filing a lawsuit against Medtronic. “He’s walking around like a ticking time bomb and if the lead wire does fracture, he might not survive that heart attack,” his attorney said. “We’re looking for Medtronic to be held accountable. They knew that this was a defective product.”
Medtronic did know of the problems associated with its Sprint Fidelis leads for months prior to the recall. The leads connecting the defibrillator to the heart are thinner in diameter than other lead wires, and they are prone to fracture more often than other implanted defibrillator leads. Had Medtronic recalled the leads earlier, folks like Mr. Kern would not have been implanted with these defective defibrillator wires that have the potential to deliver deadly electric shocks to the patient or stop providing life-saving shocks all together.
