Guidant saw some deaths from heart device: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Medical device maker Guidant Corp.
projected that some patients might die as result of short
circuits in a company heart device, the New York Times reported
Saturday, citing company records filed in connection with a
lawsuit.

Guidant did not publicize the flaw because it appeared to
have viewed the overall failure rate as acceptable, according
to the documents filed Thursday in a Texas state court in
connection with a lawsuit involving Guidant’s Prizm 2 DR
defibrillator.

A company report also showed that by the middle of 2002
Guidant determined that the consequences of the defibrillator’s
electrical failure, although rare, could be “life threatening,”
the newspaper said. Still, Guidant continued to sell the
potentially flawed devices and did not notify doctors about the
defect until last spring, when the problem was about to reach
the public, the Times said.

Responding via e-mail to the New York Times’ inquiry, a
spokeswoman for Guidant said the company’s policy is to not
comment on pending litigation.

A company representative could not be reached for comment
on Sunday.