Medtronic Inc. has admitted that deaths related to their defective Sprint Fidelis leads has actually risen to 13. The Sprint Fidelis leads were pulled from the market in 2007 after doctors and patients complained of malfunctioning pacemakers that are supposed to keep the cardiac rhythms stable. However, the Sprint Fidelis leads were prone to breaking thereby causing a short in the lead. When the leads fracture they can either fail to provide the electric current to the heart or conversely send multiple shocks to the heart. According to a report in the Wall St. Journal, “four of the 13 deaths resulted from attempts by doctors to pull out Sprint Fidelis leads — highlighting the risk of extraction surgery. The leads typically scar onto the inner vein wall leading to the heart, or can scar onto the heart itself. Either way, pulling them out can result in lethal bleeding. For that reason, the company still does not recommend extraction in most cases.”