Fewer complications from heart device specialists

    Attorney Ronald E. Johnson of Schachter & Hendy concentrates on legal issues regarding defective medical devices.  A recent article in The New York Times cited a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association that reviewed the experiences of patients who received defibrillators and heart devices.

    The researchers reviewed more than 1110,000 cases between January 2006 and June 2007, and analyzed how the patients did both during and following the procedure.  The study showed that the rate of serious complication was lowest when the heart device was implanted by an electrophysiologist, a specialized cardiologist.  The study used information collected into a database that indicated what type of doctor implanted heart devices.  A growing number of people are having defibrillators and other heart devices implanted.  The study indicates that patients should request an electorphysiologist by the one to do the surgery, since that is their specialty.

   Some companies who produce defibrillators are spending money to train cardiologists in how to implant their particular kind of heart device, and they in turn will probably purchase those devices for surgery.  These doctors may be cardiologists but may not be electrophysiologists.