The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

STJ (-6%/PM) has a battery problem after all—but not the defect related to hacking that shortseller, Muddy Waters recently claimed:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-11/st-jude-warns-defibrillator-patients-about-battery-risks

St. Jude Medical Inc. is warning patients that the batteries on thousands of its implantable defibrillators can quickly and unexpectedly deplete, in rare cases, leaving them vulnerable should they need a shock from the device to restart their faltering hearts.

… The warning comes at a sensitive time for the St. Paul, Minnesota-based medical device manufacturer, which is in the midst of being purchased by Abbott Laboratories for $25 billion. In August, short-seller Carson Block and his investment firm Muddy Waters Capital LLC issued a report saying St. Jude’s heart devices are uniquely vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks, including a depletion of the battery. The issue at hand had nothing to do with wireless communications, which are essential for doctors to closely monitor their patients… The problem stems from the lithium-powered batteries that run the devices.