A couple of months ago, I was informed out the Medtronic recall of Sprint Fidelis defibrillation leads, not all, but only from certain batches. My cousin sister has defibrillation leads implanted to help her regulate her heartbeat. Well, that got me worried but luckily, she is not using a Medtronic product.

I read that in December, 2007, a patient using Medtronic’s Sprint Fidelis defilbrillation leads filed a lawsuit against Medtronic. The faulty defilbrillator wrongly sent shocks to his heart and he had to undergo a few more operations to replace the device and repair the damage. Naturally, this patient is seeking damages.

I also read that there have already been five deaths linked to complications that arose from using these faulty Medtronic Sprint Fidelis defibrillation leads. Yes, it could be fatal and that is a shame because these patients trusted and used the device to get cured, but instead died!

If you are using defibrillation leads, find out from your doctor the manufacturer of it, and if it is a Medtronic product, find out the batch number.

I was shocked to receive news from a friend last evening of an assassination at former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. One minute she was fine and the next, she is no longer with us. I read news report that over twenty people were killed as well. It is shocking that as we are about to welcome Year 2008, there is still brutal assassinations happening like this!

I know from my traffic statistics and tracker that I have a handful of readers from Pakistan. Not as many as from neighbouring India but it’s still nice to receive visits from foreign lands. However, I don’t remember anyone from Pakistan actually leaving me a comment on any of my blogs.

To all of you who are in Pakistan right now, I hope that you and your family are safe and that your country will remain calm.

A month ago, I wrote a post on the Medtronic Lawsuit and I received organic traffic from people looking for more information on the lawsuit.

Did you know that patients who have this particular defibrillation implanted are eligible for free legal evaluation and consultation? These people would best seek advice from legal eagles so that they can receive a product exchange and adequate compensation from the manufacturer.

My cousin is lucky that she is not using Sprint Fidelis defibrillation but some other brand. The manufacturer decided to take the decision to recall this product after a few patient deaths have been linked to the use of this defibrillation. I think it is a good decision to take for the benefit of patients even though they may eventually face legal action.

These are the Medtronic Sprint Fidelis leads that were recalled:
• Sprint Fidelis 6930
• Sprint Fidelis 6931
• Sprint Fidelis 6948
• Sprint Fidelis 6949

Have you heard of Hannah Montana yet? If you have not then you probably are not a tween, do not have a daughter who is a tween or need to come out of your shell. I will admit that just a few short months ago, I have not heard of Hannah Montana as well.

My sister told me how huge she is in the United States and I was like, “Is she a cartoon character?” haha! I had to turn to the trusty internet to look for information on her. It turns out that Hanah Montana is the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus and her real name is Miley Cyrus.

I was surprised that Hannah Montana Houston Rodeo tickets were sold out within a short while and she is the highest ticket seller in the history of Houston Rodeo.

If you remember, I wrote that I was invited to the Houston Rodeo but we have not made plans yet. I wonder if Hannah Montana will have her very popular concert once again. I hope so because I would like to see how good she is to command such an audience of tweens! Oh yea, did I mention that she is only 14 years old? That’s awesome to be able to do so much at such a young age!

This past year, I have blogged about many product recalls. It started with the contact lens solution, a hernia patch, a contraceptive patch, dog food, a children’s toy and some that I have even forgotten about. When I heard about the Medtronic Recall, I jumped at the chance to blog about it. I feel that as a responsible blogger, it is my duty to inform others who may be seeking information on these recalled products. I know from experience that these are traffic drivers. And I just mentioned in a couple of posts below that I love checking my traffic stats!

Also, my cousin sister has an implantable defibrillator to control her irregular heart rhythm when she was only a teenager. I am not sure if she is using Sprint Fidelis since I just found out about this recall and it is now 1am here. I will have to speak to her first thing tomorrow to ask if she using Medtronic defibrillator and if she already knows of this product recall already.

I hope my cousin sister is not using Sprint Fidelis and if she is, she is not using Models 6930, 6931, 6948 or 6949. I read that these models have an exceptionally high level of lead and the side effects of having such a foreign object implanted in our body include various health complications that could lead to death! It is very shocking! So now you know why this particular product recall is so closed to my heart.

I have also read that patients have already engaged attorneys to file lawsuits and seek damages and just like the recall of previous medical devices, some patients have grouped together to file a group lawsuit. I believe that by doing so, they have a greater chance of winning their case or receive a larger compensation. I am not sure if I am right in this, though!

I wonder if my cousin is one of the affected patients, if she could engage a lawyer here to help her with her case.