Guidant Settles Suit Over Heart Device

Guidant Corp. agreed to settle a lawsuit over the death of a 21-year-old man who used a company-made heart device that failed, a lawyer representing the man’s family said.

The terms of the settlement were not released.

The agreement with the family of Joshua Oukrop, who died in Utah on March 14, 2005, may be the first civil settlement related to Guidant’s recall of 109,000 heart defibrillators, lawyers said.