MEDTRONIC BUSINESS MAY LAY OFF WORKERS FOLLOWING SUSPENSION OF DEVICE PRODUCTION

Medtronic's Physio-Control business reportedly may be reducing the work force at its Redmond, Wash., facility in the wake of the firm's manufacturing suspension of Lifepak defibrillators.

Of the firm's 1,200 employees, 800 of them work at the Redmond facility, according to reports.

Medtronic's plans to spin off Physio-Control into an independent company ran into a roadblock when the company announced problems with Physio-Control's manufacturing processes. The firm's decision to suspend production of Lifepak defibrillators was announced Jan. 16 in response to quality system concerns (Device Daily Bulletin, Jan. 19 (http://www.fdanews.com/dailies/device/3_14/)).