Report: Problems With Medtronic Medical Devices Affected Thousands

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A consortium of investigative journalists has published a report indicating that, in the last decade, Twin Cities-based Medtronic medical devices have been connected with more than 9,000 patients who have died.

The report was issued by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

According to the report, from 2008 through 2017, there were 9,300 deaths and 292,000 injuries "potentially linked to products made by Medtronic or its subsidiaries." It went on to say that "insulin pumps and their components are responsible for the highest number of medical device adverse events reported to U.S. regulators," a figure the report cited at 2,600 deaths and 150,000 injuries.

The report claims that accounts for 1 in 5 of all medical device adverse event reports in the U.S. during that time period. The report also alleges that Medtronic was slow to respond to questions about potential problems with its devices.

According to reports, Medtronic spokesperson Jeff Trauring issued a response to the allegations: "It is not valid to draw conclusions about device safety across thousands of individual medical products based solely on the number of reported events. ICIJ's analysis and use of adverse event numbers in their reporting are based on unsupported methods, omit important context, and should not be accepted as credible."

Also, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a comment on the report, saying that Medtronic is the largest producer of medical equipment, and that it would be expected to also be subject to the largest number of complaints.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalist, in collaboration with the McClatchy Company and the Miami Herald, recently won a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting on offshore tax havens.

Click here to read the full report.