Defibrillators

But fallout from 2005 recalls proved very tough to overcome.Guidant had a big role in these troubles.

Problems with its products came to light in 2005, and the company has faced allegations that it concealed flaws.

The last publicly released tally showed more than 1,175 related lawsuits.Guidant's woes damaged its market share and made planned acquirer Johnson & Johnson leery enough to wrestle for a lower purchase price.

That, in turn, opened the door for Boston Scientific to launch a bidding war and eventually win over Guidant's board.The problem, some believe, is that Boston Scientific aggressively bid without a good sense of where ICDs were headed.

"They grossly miscalculated," said Phil Nalbone, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets.

"It leads one to wonder about the level of due diligence" before the deal, he said.As Tobin said, the ICD market is 20 percent smaller at this point than Boston Scientific had anticipated.

But he also noted that market projections were wrong across the industry, and said Boston Scientific believes the arrival of the market size and sales numbers it expected with Guidant has been postponed."I don't think anybody believes that the ICD market will not grow in the future," he said.

"My belief is it will be sooner rather than later."Signs of improvement There are finally some signs of ICD market stabilizat...

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