On the fourth of October of 2001, a Minnesotan teenager suffering from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, which carries a high risk of sudden death due to ventricular fibrillation, had an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) device implanted as a solution to his condition. The device was monitored regularly every three months at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, and no problems were detected.

On the fourteenth of March of 2005, this teenager died suddenly during a bicycling trip with his girlfriend during spring break. There was no clinically significant pathology found during his autopsy other than massive hypertrophy at his left ventricle. The physicians of the teenager were shocked by his death. ICD devices have a proven history of success in preventing sudden deaths of young patients who have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with no end-stage heart failure. Analysis of the teenager's ICD device, however, showed a defective defibrillator. The ICD device had an internal short circuit when trying to deliver high-voltage therapy. This had caused it to be permanently disabled. Furthermore, there was no way of pinpointing the time of failure of the defective defibrillator as its memory had been destroyed.

This is just one of the many cases when a defective defibrillator has caused a fatality because of internal fault. A defibrillator is a useful device for people whose heart's natural pacemakers have malfunctioned, which results in erratic signals in the heart. Arrhythmia or an erratic heartbeat causes the heart to pump less effectively.

A defibrillator is a device that is implanted to correct this problem. A defibrillator is commonly made of a pulse generator with a sealed electronic circuit package and a lithium battery, one or two wires that conduct electrical signals to the heart and electrodes located on each lead and is a common procedure.

The medical community has been rocked with controversy, however, as reports of a number of defective defibrillator devices began to surface. The controversy over the defective defibrillator devices further worsened when the manufactures decided to limit the knowledge of the public about these defective defibrillator devices by introducing what they called improvements and enhancements to their defective defibrillator devices instead of admitting that they had manufactured defective defibrillator devices. Worse, they continued to sell defibrillator devices that were part of the batch that were found to be defective.

Today, there are more than three hundred law suits against manufacturers of these defective defibrillator devices. Since June of 2006, a large number of individual and class action law suits have been filed. Some complained of insulation problems in the defective defibrillator device which caused it to fail within five years of implantation. Others stated faulty low-voltage capacitors that caused the device to fail.

If you are one of the people who use a defibrillator, it would be to your best interest to have your device checked to see if it is one of the many defective defibrillator units that are facing legal controversies. If you are, you may face a host of financial problems in order to correct. Inform yourself of the legal remedies that can help you with your dilemma. By approaching a lawyer, you can be informed of the laws and other legalities that you have on your side. Make the companies who manufactured these defective defibrillator devices pay for their neglect, and claim the financial support that is rightfully yours. Talk to a lawyer now and know your rights regarding defective defibrillator devices.