Cardiac Arrest

Five Heart-Stopping Years as a CEO On the Feds' Hit-List

By: Howard Root, Stephen Saltarelli

Narrated by: Mark Schectman, Kat Merry, Joshua Kumler

Who polices America's prosecutors? And when they set their sights on an innocent CEO, can he survive a five-year, $25 million legal labyrinth to save the company he built, and himself from prison?

Howard Root started Vascular Solutions with little more than a dream and an idea for a single medical device. Fifteen years later, his Minnesota company had created over 500 American jobs and developed more than 50 new medical devices that saved and improved lives.

But in 2011, the federal government threatened to destroy his company and put Howard behind bars for years. Why?

Federal prosecutors had been sold a bill of goods - a tall tale peddled by a money-hungry ex-employee out for revenge. All over one device. A device that never harmed a single patient and made up less than 1% of the company's sales.

The investigation revealed the charges to be baseless, but the scalp-hunting prosecutors didn't back off. Instead they dug in - threatening witnesses, misleading grand juries, and strategically leaking secret documents. Whatever it took to pressure a headline-grabbing settlement.

Howard Root stood up to the shakedown. Five years, 121 attorneys, and $25 million in legal fees later, his life's work and freedom rested in the hands of 12 strangers in a San Antonio jury room. Would Howard and his company be vindicated by the verdict, or had he made the biggest mistake of his life by challenging the federal government?

Cardiac Arrest is the eye-opening true story of life on the Feds' hit-list, told from the desk of a CEO who decided to fight back. Follow Howard from the boardroom to the courtroom as he tells the inside story of the case that sparked outrage in the pages of The Wall Street Journal and triggered a congressional investigation.

©2016 Howard C. Root (P)2017 Howard C. Root

This book unexpectedly delivered

Assumed this would be a dry boring legalese laced book. Despite that it was engrossing.

An important store

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Not only is this an important story that needs to be told, but it is done so in a way that left me enthralled and at the edge of my seat, regardless of the fact that I already knew the outcome.

The events are so timely.

We did not even notice this corruption when it took place for Mr. Rudd, and now, in 2024, it's everywhere. As a business owner, I worry, and the climate of corruption stifles our initiative and creativity.

An absolute must-read

I spent 5 1/2 years as a federal prosecutor and another year and a half in the United States Department of Justice before that. Now a defense attorney, I know all too well how abusive the government can be when it brings misguided cases. If you care at all about the justice system or how it is set up to give prosecutors almost unlimited power with no accountability, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is terrifying, funny, brilliant, and unputdownable. I've never seen a more vivid take on what federal criminal trials are actually like. Bravo!

Could Not Stop Listening

I listened to this book right after listening to Bill Browder's "Red Notice," which is about Browder's success in high finance in post-communist Russia and his persecution by the Russian government. I thought it would be an interesting juxtaposition because Browder was a couple years behind me in my fraternity at the University of Colorado, while Howard Root was one year behind me at the University of Minnesota Law School. Both books were excellent, and the frightening part was how similar Browder's description of Putin's system of justice resembled Root's characterization of our Justice Department. Spoiler alert -- nobody dies while in prison in "Cardiac Arrest," but that was the only really distinguishing difference. "Cardiac Arrest" was terrifying because Howard Root was not a political operative or a bad actor in any way and yet forces in the government did everything they could to destroy him, his company, and anyone who questioned the prosecution.

Civil trials about business issues might not seem sexy enough for the average reader, but the book does an excellent job of explaining the various court proceedings, strategies, etc. Similarly, FDA off-label enforcement may not sound interesting, but it was presented in a way that should be clear to everyone. The legal machinations were especially interesting because, unlike your typical Grisham novel, they were real. I highly recommend this book. I can't believe I waited so long to read it.