Medtronic suspends heart defib device after patient deaths

Medtronic, a leading supplier of high-tech medical devices to hospitals and patients, is recalling the skin contact leads on its Sprint Fidelis defibrillation machines after deaths were connected to the product.

The leads themselves were names as potential causes of five deaths recently after they apparently fractured while being used on patients. Defibrillators are used to send electric charges to the heart through skin contact in order to "reset" it.

Medtronic said today that a "small chance of fractures in particular locations" were found on its Sprint Fidelis models 6930, 6931, 6948 and 6949. As a result of the leads being damaged in its findings, the biotech company is asking doctors nationwide to return affected leads and stop implantation into patients for fear of more complications until it can figure out exactly what went wrong.