Patients and families have continued to look at their options of filing a Medtronic lawsuit following the 2007 Sprint Fidelis lead recall. Defibrillator lead fractures have caused heart patients to suffer unnecessary shocks and subsequent surgeries to replace defective leads.
How The Heart Works
For anyone with heart disease, it is important to have as much information as you can in order to understand your condition, the disease and treatment options.
The first step is to understand the function of the heart. The heart is a muscle that ensures blood, which carries life-giving oxygen, is pumped throughout the body.
The heart is about the size of a fist, and rests in the chest, just to the left of the sternum. It consists of four chambers, a right atrium and right ventricle and a left atrium and left ventricle. If you put your hand to your chest, you can usually feel your heartbeat, which is the continuous pumping action of the heart. When your heart beats, two actions are taking place.
On the right side of the heart, blood that has traveled throughout the body is pumped into the right atrium. Within the right atrium, the sinus node provides an electrical impulse that initiates each heartbeat. The right atrium contracts, opening a valve that sends this oxygen poor blood into the right ventricle, where another contraction takes place, and the blood travels to the pulmonary artery, and then through blood vessels in the lungs where it picks up more oxygen as we breathe.
At the same time, on the left side of the heart, oxygen rich blood returns from the lungs through the pulmonary veins. This blood enters the left atrium and as the atrium fills, it contracts, sending blood to the left ventricle. Once the left ventricle fills, it also contracts and blood is sent to the aorta, which is the main artery carrying blood from the heart to the body.
The left and right atria contract at the same time and the sound of the valve closing as the blood is sent to the ventricles creates the “lub” or first part of the heartbeat. Then the left and right ventricles contract, sending blood to the pulmonary artery and aorta. The sound of the valves closing after that action causes the “dub” or second part of a heartbeat.
If any of the four parts of the heart is not able to pump efficiently, it affects the heart’s ability to provide oxygen throughout the body. Some people have medical conditions that affect their heart’s ability to pump regularly and efficiently. Doctors may recommend that they use a device called a defibrillator to regulate pumping.
Patients who received defibrillators between 2004 and 2007 should determine if they have the Medtronic defibrillator that used wires or leads called Sprint Fidelis. These leads have since been recalled because of potential fractures or breakage that have led to injury and death.
If you have a defibrillator containing Sprint Fidelis lead, contact your doctor to discuss your medical options. If you or a loved one has suffered a Medtronic lead fracture please call or fill out our online contact form and a Medtronic lawsuit attorney will discuss your case at no charge and explain your legal options.
We are a law firm dedicated to helping those injured by Medtronic Sprint Fidelis Defibrillator Lead.
Medtronic Recall Lawsuit
U.S. Food & Drug Administration Statement On Medtronic Sprint Fidelis Defibrillator
Medtronic Suspends Sprint Fidelis Defibrillation Leads (PDF)
U.S. FDA Class 1 Recall Report
If you or a loved one have been injured by the Medtronic Sprint Fidelis lead please contact us immediately. You may be entitled to compensation.
Some people who have been harmed by defective Medtronic leads have filed lawsuits against the manufacturer. But, before filing a Medtronic lead lawsuit, there are several things that you should know.
Which product is defective?
Medtronic Sprint Fidelis defibrillator leads were more prone to fracturing than previous generation models of leads. Defibrillators are implanted heart devices that [...]
Medtronic manufactured a type of heart defibrillator lead that had defective wires. The defective wires were “leads,” which connected the defibrillator to the heart. The leads would fracture, or break, on numerous defibrillators. The Medtronic lead fracture was deadly in some patients.
Which defibrillators were defective?
The Medtronic lead fracture would occur in the Medtronic Sprint Fidelis [...]
Medtronic has been has been involved in litigation for defective Sprint Fidelis heart defibrillator leads. These Medtronics lawsuits were initiated because the “leads,” which are wires that connect the defibrillator device to the heart, could break, causing serious injury, and even death in some patients.
How many defective leads were produced?
More than 268,000 Medtronic Sprint Fidelis [...]
If you are seeking Medtronic lawsuit dismissed 2010 information and news about the recall related to your internal cardioverter defibrillator, we can provide the necessary background, facts and resources you need.
Medtronic Defibrillator
Medtronic is a manufacturer of a variety of medical products, notably of the Medtronic defibrillator. The internal cardioverter defibrillator is a small computer that [...]
Patients across the country continue to file Medtronic Sprint Fidelis lawsuit claims spurred by lead recall of the Sprint Fidelis wires. As patients face long-term side effects from the faulty defibrillator wires, they seek compensation from the company they believe knew of the wire problems long before the recall was issued.
A defibrillator is a life-saving [...]