Millions worldwide die each year because they can’t afford a pacemaker. Meanwhile, heart patients in the United States say they’d be willing to donate theirs after death to someone in need.
In this week’s issue of Circulation, experts at the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center described the legality and logistics of collecting pacemakers, for reuse across the globe, and unveiled a new program to do just that.
They assert that humanitarian efforts so far have shown reuse of pacemakers to be safe and effective with little risk of infection. In fact, patients live as long with a recycled pacemaker as those who get new ones, authors say.
Wal-Mart joins a growing list of corporations supporting sustainable agriculture programs and small farmers, saying it is planning to double the sales of local produce in its U.S. stores by the end of 2015.
