Navy sonar testing suspected in San Diego mom’s death after pacemaker shuts off

The son of a woman who died when her pacemaker stopped working suspects testing by the U.S. Navy could be responsible.

Susan Reedy contacting the FDA in 2010 because she believed odd remote control failures in her area of San Diego were linked to failures in the operation of her pacemaker.

Reedy, who worked in Hillcrest had told the FDA that she experienced several bouts of irregular heartbeats while at work. This seems to coincide with when her car remote would stop working. Her family claims that there were many other reports of garage and other types of remotes temporarily inoperative at the same time.

The makers of remote controls have blamed Navy ships for these sorts of problems in the past. Although the Naval authorities admitted no responsibility or connection to the problems with remote, it was acknowledged that several military bases in the area do make use of the same frequencies as some consumer devices.

Susan Reedy died in 2011 in her sleep. Her son, Nicholas, who found her, was told that her the pacemaker was no longer working, as if it had been remotely shut off.

Her device was made by Boston Scientific, and was one of their most advanced models. The actual cause of her death is still undetermined.

The Reedy family have retained the services of a private investigator. This was the source of the discovery of the apparent match between her death and a Navy sonar test. Since this was uncovered, the Food and Drug Administration is looking into Reedy’s death very closely. The Reedy’s are now seeking legal counsel to resolve their ordeal.

One problem for everyone trying to understand the truth here is that Susan Reedy’s pacemaker was not recovered prior to her cremation. The Reedy family intended to have the device available for forensic study, and possible donation if it was found to be working correctly, but the family never received it.

While the Navy has not officially commented on this case, they have previously maintained that they always operate within legally appropriate communication frequencies.