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Many Defibrillators Implanted Unnecessarily

According to an article in the New York Times, a new study finds that doctors are implanting high-tech heart devices in thousands of heart patients who do not need them.

Defibrillators send an electrical jolt to the heart when it begins beating irregularly or stops all together.  The implantation of the device is a costly and invasive procedure.  In patients who do not necessarily need the device, the surgery is an unnecessary risk, the study concludes.

Medical guidelines are in place that specify when the defibrillators should be used, based on studies showing which patients they help.  To find out if doctors have been complying, researchers examined the records of 111,707 people who received the implants at 1,227 hospitals in the United States from January 2006 to June 2009.

The findings reported that more than 25,000 people — 22.5 percent of all those who got defibrillators — did not match the guidelines.  In many hospitals, over 40 percent of the devices were implanted in patients that were outside the guidelines.

The study also found that patients who did not meet the medical guidelines for receiving the device were more likely to suffer complications or die in the hospital than patients who met the guidelines.

Dr. Alan Kadish, a New York cardiologist said he thought it possible that some doctors were implanting devices unnecessarily to make money.

If you or someone you love has suffered because of the implantation of one of these devices you may be entitled to monetary compensation.  Contact the attorneys of Gray and White Law at 502-634-8767 or 800-634-8767 for a free legal consultation.

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