Guidant recalls heart defibrillators

Guidant Corp. on Friday voluntarily recalled nearly 50,000 of its cardiac defibrillators implanted in patients worldwide because of potential malfunctions in the devices.

Indianapolis-based Guidant said it was advising physicians about the safety of several defibrillator models, which have failed at least 45 times and have caused at least two deaths through May 30. The company has offered to replace some of the devices, but has not said that replacement of any is necessary.

The recall includes about 38,000 devices used by patients in the United States.

Friday’s recall includes the Prizm 2 DR, the Contak Renewal and Contak Renewal 2, the Ventak Prizm AVT, Vitality AVT, Renewal 3 AVT and Renewal 4 AVT ICDs. The company said about 63,000 of the devices had been implanted, with nearly 50,000 still in use.

Guidant said patients implanted with those devices should continue to see their doctors at three-month intervals and any patient who recently received a defibrillator shock should consult with their physician.

Acquisition

Yellow Roadway buys into Chinese company

Yellow Roadway Corp. said Friday it had bought a 50 percent stake in the second-largest air freight forwarding company in China.

The Overland Park-based transportation company said it would pay $45 million to buy out all or part of four other partners in JHJ International Transportation Co.

JHJ, which also provides ocean freight forwarding and logistics services, has 22 locations in China and has annual revenue of $330 million.

Unemployment

Jobless rate inches up in May

Kansas’ unemployment rate rose to 5 percent in May, compared with 4.9 percent in April, the state Department of Labor said Friday. The rate in May 2004 was higher at 5.3 percent.

The number of Kansans holding non-farm jobs in May was 17,900 greater than the number in May 2004, the department said.

The department said it could not provide unemployment numbers for Lawrence or other metro areas because of problems with federal numbers used to make the calculations.

Nobody’s ever sold an existing home in Lawrence for more than $1 million. Now seven property owners are giving seven-figure listings a try.