After patient death, FDA warns of battery depletion in Medtronic pacemakers

After a patient death, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning about a rare battery-depletion problem in certain Medtronic pacemakers that could cause the devices to quickly lose power and trigger a medical emergency.

The FDA published an alert Tuesday that said Medtronic discovered a problem in which a crack can form in a ceramic electric component in some pacemakers, leading to rapid battery depletion possibly without triggering the replacement indicator. The issue was confirmed in three devices that had been returned to the manufacturer.

http://www.startribune.com/fda-warns-of-battery-problem-in-medtronic-pacemakers/509592852/