St. Jude Medical to Stop Sales of Faulty Heart Device Wires

St. Jude Medical Inc. has decided to stop selling two different types of heart device wires after they were discovered to come out of insulation and cause problems for patients. The wires were typically inserted into devices that were used to treat patients suffering from heart failure, so any malfunctions caused by the wires could prove to be fatal.

The two products taken off the market, QuickSite and QuickFlex wires, are not the only St. Jude products whose safety has been called into question. Just last week, reports emerged that their recalled Riata heart-defibrillator leads had caused at least 20 deaths because of the product's propensity to short-circuit unexpectedly. Riata devices were taken off the market in December of 2010, but 79,000 people in the U.S. still have them implanted.

They have already received 39 reports of problems; the company has decided to halt all sales of the devices as a precautionary measure. The latest problems have not yet caused fatalities, but these additional heart product failures are causing many in the medical community to wonder if St. Jude's cardiac implants have inherent material or design flaws.

This newest report of dangerous medical devices being implanted into patients again raises the fear that the Food and Drug Administration's device approval process is flawed. If you or a loved one has suffered from illness or injury as the result of being implanted with a dangerous device such as the Riata defibrillator lead, you may be entitled to compensation with the help of a pharmaceutical injury attorney. Contact Arnold & Itkin, LLP today for a free and confidential consultation.