Guidant Defibrillators

Guidant Corporation has recalled several models of its cardiac defibrillators due to defects and numerous reports of the medical device failures that in some cases have led to death. These devices known as ICDs (implantable cardioverter defibrillators) are intended to sense irregular heart rhythms and to send an electrical pulse to the heart to shock it into beating properly. The defect with these medical devices causes them to short circuit and thus, malfunction.

June 16, 2005 - Guidant recalled 50,000 defibrillator devices including the following models:

• Prizm 2 DR, Model 1861, manufactured on or before April 16, 2002
• Contak Renewal, Model H135, manufactured on or before Aug. 26, 2004
• Contak Renewal 2, Model H155, manufactured on or before Aug. 26, 2004
• Prizm AVT Vitality AVT Renewal 3
• AVT Renewal 4 AVT

June 24, 2005 - Guidant issued an advisory about additional defibrillator devices including the following models:

• Contak Renewal 3 and 4
• Renewal 3 and 4 AVT
• Renewal RF

The recall comes after Guidant Corp. failed to inform doctors and patients for over three years of the defect in some of the models. The FDA, U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and several state agencies are investigating Guidant Corp. over its recalls last summer.

Patients with a defibrillator who are unsure if their device is one of the recalled models should contact their doctor as soon as possible to determine if their Guidant defibrillator requires replacement, if their defibrillator can be reprogrammed, or if their defibrillator is not affected by the recall.

If you or someone you care about has used Guidant Defibrillators and suffered a serious injury, please fill out our Case Review Contact Form to the right on this page to find out what your case is worth.

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