Ventricular Fibrillation (V-Fib)

Ventricular fibrillation, or v-fib, is the most dangerous heart rhythm problem. Chaotic electrical signals make the ventricles, the heart's main pumping chambers, quiver instead of squeezing. Blood stops moving to the brain and body, and the person collapses.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute warns that without the ventricles pumping blood, cardiac arrest and death can happen within a few minutes. V-fib often follows ventricular tachycardia, a fast rhythm that starts in the ventricles, and is commonly triggered by a heart attack, heart disease, severe electrolyte problems, or certain drugs. Survival depends on fast CPR and defibrillation with an automated external defibrillator (AED).

V-fib comes up in litigation in a few ways. Drug injury claims may allege that a medicine prolonged the heart's electrical cycle or otherwise triggered a fatal arrhythmia without adequate warning. Device cases can involve implanted defibrillators, pacemakers, or AEDs that failed to work or were recalled. When v-fib is fatal, family members may bring a wrongful death claim. These cases depend heavily on medical records, autopsy findings, and expert testimony about cause.

A recall by itself does not mean someone has a legal claim; there usually has to be an injury linked to the defect. Our guide on recalls versus class actions explains the difference, and class action vs. mass tort explains why heart injury cases are usually filed one by one.