A Texas man with a defibrillator device that is attached to his heart by Medtronic’s recalled Sprint Fidelis lead received an electrical jolt so strong that his doctors compared it to being kicked by a horse.

What caused the shocks?

According to the Tyler TX Morning Telegraph (www.tylerpaper.com), the 63 year old man from Tyler was at home a few weeks ago, bent over to wipe some crumbs off of a chair where his grand-daughter was sitting and received an 800 volt electrical shock from his implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device. He screamed, his granddaughter screamed and his wife – thoroughly terrified – called 911. However, before the incident was over, he received five more 800 volt electrical shocks.

At the hospital, his doctors traced the cause of the shocks – a defective Medtronic Sprint Fidelis defibrillator lead. The lead had broken inside his heart and the two frayed ends cause his ICD to unnecessarily shock him over and over again. He had surgery the next morning and had the lead replaced.

This patient followed Medtronic’s instructions

When Medtronic recalled the Sprint Fidelis in October 2007, it told patients to consult with their doctors to have their defibrillators programmed for tighter self checks. That’s exactly what this East Texan did. However, other than the programming, doctors can do little more as it’s impossible to determine whether a lead, an extremely tiny wire that connects the heart to the defibrillator device, is defective or fractured.

His doctor, who reportedly stopped using the Fidelis months before the actual recall, said that although Medtronic claims that the lead is fracturing at a rate of 2.3 percent, eight out of his 65 patients with the lead have experienced a fracture. That’s amounts to 12.3 percent – a full 10 percent higher than Medtronic’s estimates.

Others reporting similar experiences

Many other Sprint Fidelis patients have also reported receiving unnecessary shocks. Some have reported being shocked upwards of 20 to 30 times in the same episode. One woman, who has brought a lawsuit against Medtronic, reported receiving 47 shocks one after another. Patients generally liken the experience to having a heart attack and many say that they experience emotional distress and live in constant fear of having another unnecessary episode or even worse – finding out that the lead has broken altogether and will not shock their heart when it’s needed.

What to do

If you or a loved one has been injured by the Sprint Fidelis or any other medical device, contact an experienced attorney whose practice focuses in this area of law to discuss your options. To contact a qualified attorney for a free, no obligation consultation, please click here.