On July 19, 2005, Guidant Corporation recalled some Guidant pacemakers due to a potentially fatal flaw in nine of their popular lines of these devices. Guidant states that there have been 69 devices from these groups that have experienced some sort of failure. 78,000 Guidant pacemakers manufactured between 1997 and 2000 are suspected to have this defect, with 18,000 still in use in the United States.

Guidant Pacemakers are small devices about the size of two half dollars implanted into the chest. Through a wire attached directly to the heart, artificial pacemakers regulate heartbeat in patients by means of subtle continuous electric shocks. Unfortunately a hermetic seal on some Guidant pacemakers may fail, causing moisture to seep in and potentially damage the device. There has been at least one death thought to be associated with this failure. Guidant issued recalls on the following models:

Pulsar Max | Pulsar | Discovery | Discover II | Meridian | Virtus Plus II | Intelis II | Contak TR | Pulsar Max II

Due to the potential of critical failure Guidant recommends that doctors use their discretion in dealing with the unique needs of their patients, but to consider replacing these devices in patients who depend on them. Contact your healthcare professional immediately if you or someone you love has one of these units and has suffered from:

• shortness of breath
• dizziness
• lightheadedness
• prolonged fast heart rate

These symptoms may be signs that your Guidant pacemaker has malfunctioned.

Interesting fact: Some of the search terms people have used to find this page include:
Most comon: Guidant Pacemaker recall , pacemaker lawsuit, Pacemaker lawyer.
Some used: Pacemaker malfunction, Pacemaker short circuit, Pacemaker heart attack.

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Latest News:

Guidant Corp. recently extended its series of product recalls to pacemakers on Monday, July 18, 2005, saying nine of its older models used by 28,000 patients may have a dangerous and potentially deadly defect. The pacemaker issue comes on the heels of three recent recalls issued by Guidant Corp. in May and June of 11 models of heart defibrillators.
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