Medtronic Inc. (MDT)’s EnTrust defibrillator, used to shock a stopped heart back into a normal rhythm, has a battery defect that may leave patients vulnerable to dangerous electrical abnormalities, British regulators said. Patients with the devices should be checked immediately by their cardiologists to ensure that the defibrillators are properly programmed to give an audible alert if the battery runs low, according to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. The devices may stop providing electrical pacing and lose the ability to shock the heart because an internal short circuit may cause the batteries to rapidly deplete, the agency said today in a statement.
