Medtronic Lawyers, Williams Kherkher

Comparison of the Medtronic Defibrillator and a Pacemaker

It is a common misunderstanding that a Medtronic Implanted Defibrillator is the same thing is a Pacemaker. While they are both designed to correct the rhythm of the heart when it is slightly off, the purpose of both is incorrect.

In an internal defibrillator is an internalized version of the big paddle things on TV shows that come out and then everyone shouts “clear!” and steps away from the body. A defibrillator is designed to correct the rhythm of the heart if the heart is beating too fast, with no rhythm at all, or is stopped completely. An internal implanted defibrillator does the same thing except doesn’t involve people yelling “clear!” and is done automatically once the leads (one of 3 parts to an implanted Medtronic defibrillator) detect a problem. Once the leads detect a problem, the batteries inside the heart issue a shock to the heart to force it to return to a normal rhythm.

A pacemaker, on the other hand, is designed to correct the heart’s rhythm only when the heart is beating too slowly. It does not correct any problems when the heart is beating too fast. In fact, many pacemakers turn themselves off whenever the heart’s rhythm reaches a beats per minute threshold and only turns itself back on again when the beats per minute drop below the threshold. There are sensors involved in a pacemaker as well. These, as in the Medtronic defibrillator, measure the heart’s rhythm and tell the battery pack when to issue a shock to the heart.

Unfortunately, Medtronic’s defibrillators lately have had problems with their leads breaking and issuing a shock when none is necessary. This is an extremely painful occurrence that has already resulted in 5 deaths. If you or someone you know has had a Medtronic defibrillator implanted, contact the Medtronic lawyers at Williams and Kherkher.