The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued a safety advisory regarding St. Jude Medical implantable cardiac devices used in conjunction with St. Jude’s proprietary Merlin @home Transmitter.

According to the advisory, these devices could potentially be vulnerable to hacking. However, only a highly skilled hacker would be sophisticated enough to exploit the vulnerability.  Such unwarranted interference could conceivably cause premature battery depletion or unnecessary shocks.

A software patch has been developed for the Merlin @home monitor designed to address the issue and to reduce the risk of hacking.  The update is now available and will be applied automatically to the Merlin monitor.

***Patients only need to make sure their Merlin@home Transmitter remains plugged in and connected in order to receive the software patch.***

Short-selling firm Muddy Waters first went public with this information in August, believing that it might cause a pending $25 billion acquisition of St. Jude Medical by Abbott Laboratories to fall apart. However, the deal closed last week despite the issue.

See also:

This article on Medscape

This article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

This article on Huffington Post.

This article on CNBC.