News Tagged ‘medtronic inc

A patient an advocate a fixer

When it comes to her health, Laurel Lewis is positively fearless.

The 54-year-old Minneapolis woman has stared down a rare breed of late-stage cancer. And last year, she technically died after her heart stopped beating, but luckily her near-fatal attack occurred just outside Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina.

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Defective Medtronic Sprint Fidelis lead fracture reports ignored by company

Medtronic Inc. knew that its Sprint Fidelis Defibrillator Leads were fracturing at higher-than-usual rates for months. Yet, the company appears to have dragged its feet in getting the defective Sprint Fidelis Lead off the market.

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Medtronic recall exposes gaps in medical safety

In late January, something unsettling happened at the Minneapolis Heart Institute. On two successive days, patients came to the clinic after their heart defibrillators had jolted them with huge, unnecessary and painful electric shocks. One 65-year-old woman said she’d been zapped 14 times in an hour.

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