The problems with Guidant’s defibrillators continue. On Saturday, Guidant issued another warning about five more of its defibrillators. These five are in addition to the seven defibrillator models that Guidant recalled earlier last week. Guidant says that doctors “should discontinue implants of these devices pending further notice.”
It appears that Guidant has begun to do the right thing. However, only time will tell if they did the right thing in a timely fashion. Now is the time to ask Howard Baker’s famous question: What did they know, and when did they know it?
I have written about these Guidant defects before, on May 24 (Guidant Decides Not to Warn About Manufacturing Defect in Defibrillator), June 12 (Guidant Class Action Suits Filed), and June 20 (Guidant Defibrillators Recalled).