Cardiologist warns about safety of St. Jude heart device component

A cardiologist who studies the safety of heart devices said surgeons should stop using a component sold by St. Jude Medical until more is known about the long-term safety of the device. The cardiologist, Dr. Robert G. Hauser of Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, made his comments as a study he conducted was published online. His research suggests that a proprietary material used by St. Jude to coat wires that connect an implanted defibrillator to a patient’s heart is breaking down prematurely and, in some cases, leading to failure of the device. The study was published by EP Europace, a British cardiology journal.