U.S. health regulators warned on Tuesday about faulty components in more than a dozen types of external defibrillators made by Cardiac Science Corp (CSCX.O), sending its shares down as much as 32 percent.
The agency cited 14 models made by Cardiac Science, some of which are sold by other companies such as General Electric Co's (GE.N) GE Healthcare unit.
About 280,000 external defibrillators used worldwide to try to rescue people having heart attacks could malfunction, the agency said. A spokesman for Cardiac Science had no comment.
The FDA said Cardiac Science had already recalled some models, but that other models marketed under GE and Nihon Kohden brands have similar problems. A Cardiac Science software update issued for some models detects some, but not all defects, it added, noting that similar software upgrades are planned for other models.
FDA warns of defects in Cardiac Science defibrillators
