Company warns own heart implant

- The American company St. Jude Medical in Saint Paul warns on its website for batteries in a heart implant that could stop unexpectedly along. It alerts doctors and patients that through this 'rare' error (0.21 percent), the implant does not work anymore.

There have sold about 350 000 copies of the device by St. Jude worldwide. When the batteries give a warning signal, they should be replaced immediately. Normally it may take another three months. The implants are used to cope with life-threatening arrhythmias.

It is not known whether and, if so, how many are used of the devices in the Netherlands.