The United States Department of Justice has filed a complaint against Guidant and its parent company, Boston Scientific Corp. charging those companies with selling defective cardiac devices. The Ventak Prizm 2 and Renewal 1 and 2, cardio defibrillators designed to deliver therapy that prevents cardiac death, are implanted into a patient’s chest, sending an electrical pulse to the heart to shock a heart back to normal rhythm when they detect an irregular heartbeat.

The government claims that Guidant knowingly marketed their stock of defective devices even though they took measures to correct the defect in newly manufactured products.  They also allegedly took steps to hide the problem from patients, doctors, and the FDA.

The U.S. government joined a lawsuit filed by whistleblower James Allen, who allegedly received one of the defective devices.

Read the entire article, “United States Files Suit Against Guidant and Boston Scientific for Selling Defective Heart Devices That Were Implanted. . .”