Red flages easy to miss to miss heart devices-Mpls Star story-08/07/05

On Sunday morning,Francis Bakk, sister of my deceased brother in law,Orville Bakk called her cousin Margaret Thornton in Madison, S.Dak. Margaret in turn called me in Sun City,Arizona. A paacemaker company called Guidant seemed to has suppressed reports on device failures in the past. The story goes on for four pages plus a picture and the story ends like this.

The bottom line

The seemingly esoteric stastics have real life repercussions for patients.

Raymond Rye, 73, who suffers from coronary atery disease, is now on his third
defibrillator, after Guidant Ventnak Prizm device was replaced Thursday at United
Hospital's John Nassiff Heart Hospital in St. Paul.
Left on its own, Rye's heart beats about 30 times per minute--compared with a normal heart rate of 70.
"Because he's dependent on the pacemaker part of his defribillator, he can't afford to have it fail," said