A Canadian judge ruled that a group of almost 2,000 Canadians alleging they were implanted with defective defibrillators can sue the company, according to media reports.

Guidant, which was purchased by Natick, Mass.-based Boston Scientific in 2006, has operations in Arden Hills, Minnesota.

Prior to the acquisition, Guidant had begun a recall of 100,000 potentially defective implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). But the lawsuit claims that Guidant didn't tell doctors about the defects until years after the problems were discovered.