The FDA recently announced that the HeartWare HVAD system was being recalled by medical device manufacturer MedTronic over concerns of battery failure. The recall marks the second time the device has been recalled, with both occurrences falling under Class I status. The Class I recall is the FDA’s most severe recall classification and is reserved for instances where the continued use of the recalled item ...
continue reading...The HeartWare HVAD System is Under a Class I Recall…Again
St. Jude to Settle Defibrillator Allegations for $27 Million
“The government contends that St. Jude knowingly caused the submission of false claims and failed to inform the FDA with critical information about prior injuries and a death which, had the FDA been made aware, would have led to a recall.” These words from Acting United States Attorney Jonathan Lenzer merely scratch the surface of the horrors inflicted on unwitting patients by a company that continue reading...
Study Explores Shingles Link to Heart Attack and Stroke
To an adult who has had chickenpox at some point in his or her life, the idea of one day developing shingles is something they’d most certainly like to avoid. The virus that causes the excruciatingly painful skin rash is the same virus that took you out of school for a while during childhood. It remains dormant in your body from that time forward, until sometimes it eventually ...
continue reading...Can Optimism Reduce the Risk of a Second Heart Attack?
Heart attack patients are all too aware of the flood of emotions that come with surviving such an event. Terror, sadness, apprehension, and depression can all follow in the footsteps of a medical event that, statistically speaking, had a very good chance of ending that patient’s life.
Recovery, for those who do survive, is a long road. Physical therapy, medication, intense monitoring, diet and lifestyle changes, and countless other modifications ...
continue reading...Alabama Widow Awarded $4 Million in Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
A Walker County, Alabama woman won a medical malpractice lawsuit against an emergency room doctor who allegedly mistook her husband’s heart attack symptoms for a stomach illness. The jury voted in favor of the woman after a 7-day medical malpractice trial, awarding the widow $4 million.
In 2008, the woman’s 40 year old man visited the Walker Baptist Medical Center two days after he began feeling sick to his stomach. The man entered the emergency room ...
continue reading...Heart Attack Symptoms in Women
A recent New York Times piece discusses one woman’s experience with a heart attack and how that experience compared with that of her late husband. The article points out some common misconceptions and behaviors that may lead to a delay in treatment of heart attacks – based on the woman’s own beliefs or a lack of knowledge by healthcare providers.
There is a common misconception that cancer is the biggest killer of women. In ...
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