Battery Warning Issued on Implanted Defibrillators

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The batteries in about 6,300 Medtronic implanted defibrillators may fail before their scheduled depletion time, but not without warning users well in advance, the company said on Friday.

Medtronic spokesman Chris Garland told Dow Jones that the defect affects "Concerto" cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators, as well as "Virtuoso" defibrillators.

Medtronic already guarantees users a 90-day advance warning from such devices, letting patients know that the battery is running down. And although the battery in the devices in question may have a shorter life than was expected, patients will still receive this advance warning, and they should not change their regular check-up/device monitoring schedule.

"There's no safety concern at all, there's been no reports of injury," said Garland, who noted that Medtronic had sent doctors notification of the matter earlier this week.