Fischer was president and chief executive officer and a director of Ventritex Inc., a company that pioneered implantable cardiac defibrillators, from 1987 until the sale of the company to St. Jude Medical Inc. in 1997. Before joining Ventritex, he held various management positions at Cordis Corporation in the cardiac and neurosurgical device areas, serving most recently as president of the Implantable Products Division. Prior to that, he spent seven years with General Electric Company in a variety of operating positions.