Associated Press, "Lawsuit blames father's death on defibrillator"

          The family of an elderly man who died when the heart defibrillator implanted in his chest allegedly failed is suing the device's maker and wants to expand the suit to thousands of patients nationwide.
           Although the lawsuit was filed on behalf of Bobby Smith's eldest son, his attorneys said about 24,000 patients nationwide have received defective implants and said they will seek to make their suit against Guidant Corp. a class action.
           Robert Earl Smith said his 75-year-old father collapsed and died in his backyard in May when the Guidant Prizm 2 DR defibrillator he had in his chest for about three years failed.
           The devices, about the size of a computer mouse, are implanted in patients at risk of suddenly having their heart beat ineffectively. The defibrillators are supposed to sense the problem and automatically shock the heart back to a normal rhythm.
           "If the device had worked properly, my dad would still be alive," Smith said Thursday.
          The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Duval Circuit Court, alleges Guidant was aware of problems with its defibrillators for about three years but did not notify doctors until May 23, on the eve of a New York Times story on problems with the Guidant products.

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