Due to a potentially fatal manufacturing defect, Guidant Corporation recalled a number of their popular Virtus Plus II Pacemakers manufactured between November 1997 and October 2000. A seal that joins the two halves of the unit was demonstrated to fail later in the life of the device, which allowed moisture to damage the delicate electronics inside.

Damage to the unit could prevent the pacemaker from regulating the heartbeat. Warning signs that your pacemaker could be malfunctioning are:

• Irregular or inaccurate pacemaking
• Increased battery depletion
• Inaccurate test/reset warnings
• Early but inaccurate replacement warnings

Guidant has acknowledged that there have been 69 reports of failure from all 28,000 of its line of pacemakers constructed at that time. If you or a loved one has a Virtus Plus II Pacemaker model numbers 1380 or 1480 do not panic, but contact your medical professional immediately. The chances of you being in immediate danger are slim, but it is good to action sooner rather than later.

Guidant also issued alerts on the following other models:

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

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