Sep. 21, 2009 (Business Wire) -- ZOLL Medical Corporation (NASDAQ GS: ZOLL), a manufacturer of resuscitation devices and related software solutions, announced today that physicians at all of the 21 “Honor Roll” hospitals and all of the 50 “Best Heart and Heart Surgery” hospitals designated by U.S. News and World Report for 2009-2010 have prescribed the ZOLL LifeVest® Wearable Defibrillator for patients.
The LifeVest is worn by patients at risk of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), allowing their physicians time to assess their long-term arrhythmic risk and make appropriate plans. The LifeVest is lightweight and easy to wear, allowing patients to return to their activities of daily living, while having the peace of mind that they are protected from SCA. The LifeVest does not require bystander intervention and has a 98 percent first treatment shock success rate for resuscitating patients with SCA.
“The LifeVest offers patients the potential for protection from SCA in the highest risk period immediately following a myocardial infarction when other therapies are not indicated due to a patient’s temporary or changing condition,” said Dr. Ranjit Suri, Director of Electrophysiology Service and Cardiac Arrhythmia Center at Lenox Hill Heart and Vascular Institute of New York, which was named to the 50 Best Heart and Heart Surgery hospital list. “The LifeVest is an important part of the continuum of care to protect our patients at risk of SCA.”
“We believe the continued prescription of the LifeVest in each of the nation’s premier hospitals demonstrates that the LifeVest is developing as a standard of care for patients with a temporary risk of sudden cardiac death,” said Richard A. Packer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ZOLL.
The LifeVest may be prescribed for patients following a heart attack, before or after bypass surgery or stent placement, as well as for those with cardiomyopathy or congestive heart failure that places them at particular risk. It may also be prescribed for patients whose comorbidities, including infections caused by placement of ICDs, prevent them undergoing immediate implant surgery for an ICD. To date, the LifeVest has been prescribed to more than 18,000 patients.
The LifeVest is rented to patients like other durable medical equipment (DME), allowing physicians to provide the patient the protection of the LifeVest by placing a medical order directly with ZOLL. The LifeVest is covered by most health plans in the United States, including commercial, state, and federal plans. For more information, visit www.zolllifecor.com.
U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals,” an annual ranking of the country’s elite medical centers, looks at how well a hospital handles complex and demanding situations.
