The health ministry has
suspended a Higher Health Institute (ISS) lab in charge of
testing pacemakers and defribillators, ISS Special Commissioner
Walter Gualtiero Ricciardi told ANSA on Wednesday.
"The decision was taken as a precautionary measure,"
Ricciardi said.
The ministry shut down the lab temporarily following an
investigative piece that aired October 5 on RAI 3's Report
newsmagazine, which revealed that the lab was filled with
outdated and broken pacemaker-testing machinery, placing the
health and lives of heart patients at risk.
The equipment "has been unable to carry out the necessary
tests to verify the safety of (pacemakers and defribillators)
for years," according to Italian journalist Milena Gabanelli's
hard-hitting investigative news show.
"We are working to guarantee (the lab) will soon be
operational again," Ricciardi said.
Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin ordered an investigation
into the state of the lab on October 6, one day after the Report
piece aired.
Prosecutors ordered a police search of lab premises that
same day.
Lorenzin in July issued a decree placing the ISS under the
control of a government-appointed commissioner, dismissing its
board of directors and scientific committee.
Pacemaker are a small device placed in the chest or abdomen
to help control abnormal heart rhythms. It uses electrical
pulses to prompt the heart to beat at a normal rate.
Defribillators are similar, except they help treat
arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat.
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