BUSINESS BRIEFING / HEALTHCARE
Times Wire Reports
Medtronic Inc. is warning that 37,000 of its pacemakers may have wiring defects that can cause them to malfunction.
The Minneapolis company says in a letter to physicians that the defect affects a subset of its Kappa and Sigma pacemakers, causing them to run out of battery power or not respond. About 1.7 million of the pacemakers have been implanted since 1997, the company estimates.
Medtronic says it has received two reports of patient deaths where the pacemakers may have played a role. The company says physicians should consider removing a pacemaker if a patient depends on it for daily survival.
