(ANSA) - Rome, October 22 - 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an investigative piece that aired October 5 on RAI 3's Report newsmagazine, which revealed that the lab was filled with outdated and broken pacemaker-testing machinery, placing the health and lives of heart patients at risk.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.