The researchers found that out of 800 trials the pacemaker malfunctioned 50% of the time. The effects varied from the pacemaker mistaking the electronic signals from the iPODS as a heart-rhythm disorder to the iPOD interfering with the way the pacemaker communicated with its monitoring device to one person’s pacemaker not functioning for three heartbeats.
While none of the interferences were life threatening, if you wear a pacemaker it would be a good idea to forget about using an iPOD (there’s a strong likelihood, they never had that thought to begin with). If you are an iPODing teenager, don’t hug a grandparent who has a pacemaker, when you have your iPOD in your shirt or jacket pocket.