Medical Device Injuries - Guidant Pacemaker

Have You Sustained a Personal Injury from a Guidant Pacemaker?

Guidant Pacemakers

On July 22, 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began notifying health care providers and patients that Guidant Corporation is voluntarily recalling certain pacemakers. A seal within the devices can leak, allowing moisture to affect the electronic circuits. This defect can cause the pacemakers to fail to provide pacing or can cause a rapid heart rate. Other unexpected device behaviors are also possible. The problems may occur without warning and can lead to loss of consciousness, and possibly heart failure and death.

Guidant announced the initiation of a voluntary recall on July 18, 2005. The recall action consisted of a letter to physicians that describes the problem and provides recommendations about how to minimize the risk of pacemaker failure.

The FDA has classified Guidant's action as a Class I recall. Recall classifications can fall into one of three categories, with Class I being the most serious. These numerical classifications are based on the probability that the device failure could lead to adverse health effects. In a Class I recall, there is a reasonable probability that the malfunctioning device will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.

Some patients are very dependent on pacemakers to maintain an adequate heart rate. For these patients, failure of the device to provide pacing output can cause sudden faintness or loss of consciousness, and can result in death. The leakage defect can also cause a sustained rapid heart rate, which can cause heart failure and result in death.

While the failures can occur without warning, sometimes a leak-related malfunction can be detected by a physician before the malfunction causes serious problems. Guidant has provided information to physicians about ways to identify a leak-related malfunction. However, Guidant is not aware of any test that will show if a normally functioning pacemaker is likely to fail in the future.

As of July 11, 2005, Guidant had received reports that 69 pacemakers may have failed because of the leakage. Twenty of the devices were confirmed to have stopped providing pacing output, resulting in loss of consciousness in five patients. Guidant also received reports of two patients who had sustained pacing at a rapid rate. A patient whose device exhibited sustained pacing at a rapid rate was admitted to the hospital and later died. The device problem could not be confirmed as leakage since the device was not returned.

Approximately 18,000 of the affected devices remain in service in the United States and an additional 10,000 are in service in other countries. Guidant estimates that the failure rate from the leakage defect will be between 0.17% and 0.51% (i.e., between 1.7 per one thousand and 5.1 per one thousand) over the remaining lifetime of the devices. It is possible that the actual failure rate will be greater than this, in part, because some past failures may not have been reported to Guidant.

Medical Device Recalls Class 1 Recall: Guidant Pacemakers
Is My Guidant Pacemaker Under Recall?

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