Several hundred thousand Implantable Cardioverter and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Defibrillators manufactured by St. Jude have been implanted in people worldwide that, when necessary, deliver life-saving pulses to reestablish normal heart rhythms. However, the medical company recently issued a warning about the battery life of the devices, citing “lithium clusters” inside the batteries cause the batteries to short-circuit and quickly deplete—some, within 24 hours of the patient receiving a low-battery alert. The lithium battery defect was first discovered two years ago in December 2014 when researchers out of Duke University Medical Center found that the lithium build-up “is a novel mechanism of premature battery failure.” Patients that experience a vibratory alert indicating the defibrillator battery life is near its end should contact their physician immediately.
If you or a loved one received a St. Jude Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator or a Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Defibrillator implant, please contact us.
