Bair Hugger Warming Blanket Lawsuit | Post Surgery Infections
The Bair Hugger warming blanket is intended to maintain a patient’s core body temperature during a surgical procedure. The blanket is connected to a warming unit and is placed over a patient’s body to prevent them from becoming too cold in advance of and during the surgery. However, there has been reports that this warming blanket has been connected with cases of infection. Specifically, this blanket is alleged to lead to joint infections since the warming blanket may cause bacteria to circulate in the surgical incision. There is no warming blanket recall at this time. In 2018, 3m recalled thousand of warming blankets not related to surgical infections. Drug watch
Update-
August 16, 2023 Update: 5,250 victims have filed lawsuits in the MDL.
July 14, 2023: 3M would like a Minnesota federal magistrate justice to keep his role in the multidistrict litigation (MDL). The victims’ attorneys were trying to axe the Justice because of alleged conflicts of interest. The Justice previously owned shares in 3M. The Justic ewas married and his wife had some sort of business relationship with 3m. Previously the victims attempted to disqualify the judge presiding over the MDL for confidential reasons. That motion was denied.
May 30, 2023 : 3M’s demand for the United States Supreme Court to review the reinstatement of mdl Bair Hugger lawsuits. The manufacturer’s lawyers asserted that the Eighth Circuit erred in permitting certain expert witnesses.
2/8/2022- “3M Co. urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision that reinstated thousands of lawsuits alleging a surgical warming blanket caused infections, saying the Eighth Circuit applied an erroneously permissive standard in allowing the plaintiffs’ expert witnesses.” Bloomberg
8-6-21- “Nearly 6,000 lawsuits against 3M over its Bair Hugger patient-warming device are back in play after a federal appellate court Monday overturned a lower court decision to dismiss them. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that U.S. District Court Judge Joan Ericksen in Minneapolis erred in granting summary judgement in favor of 3M, throwing out suits alleging that the Bair Hugger caused post-surgical infections. However, on Tuesday, the same three-judge panel upheld a 3M victory in the first and only Bair Hugger trial that was held in 2018 before Ericksen dismissed all of the cases.” Star tribune
“3M Co. faces nearly 6,000 reinstated lawsuits by patients alleging they developed severe infections from the Bair Hugger warming system used during joint replacement surgeries, following an Eighth Circuit ruling. Testimony from the plaintiffs’ experts that the Bair Hugger can cause infection was incorrectly barred as unreliable, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said on Monday. The appeals court also reversed a district court’s grant of summary judgment to 3M and its Arizant Healthcare Inc. unit, which followed the order excluding the experts.” bloomberg
Bair Hugger victims scored a huge victory in front of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. This decision reversed the district court’s order excluding “the medical experts and the engineering expert, and then granted summary judgment for 3M against nearly 6,000 plaintiffs.” Gabriel Assaad, McDonald Worley.
August 2019- “3M Co. declared legal victory Thursday after a federal judge dismissed lawsuits from more than 5,000 plaintiffs who said 3M’s Bair Hugger patient-warming device caused their post-surgical infections.” Star Tribune (There are some top lawyers still pursuing these Bair Hugger lawsuits in Texas and Missouri state courts. These defective product attorneys believe that more recent science and literature support continuing to pursue these cases.)
7/30/19- “Three plaintiffs attorneys accused in a sanctions motion by 3M of allegedly disclosing sealed materials are fighting back with their own sanctions motion, insisting that the company’s lawyers “resorted to fabricating facts.” Law.com
Harm from post-operative infections
As a result, 3M faces a number of product liability lawsuits brought by patients who suffered harm from post-operative infections. If you have had a surgery using a Bair Hugger warming blanket and have contracted an infection, you should immediately contact a Bair Hugger Warming Blanket lawsuit attorney. A bair hugger lawsuit will help you get a sense of justice as well as compensation. Many victims are searching for information about: “bear hugger medical” as well as “hip replacement infection lawsuit.” 3M also manufactured defective Military earplugs- combat arms
What is a Bair Hugger Warming Blanket?
When a patient is undergoing surgery and is under anesthesia, there is a need to regulate their body temperature. Patients can get cold during surgery whether it is from the room temperature or the combination of anesthetics coursing through their veins. If a patient’s body temperature drops, it could cause complications during the procedure. Specifically, hypothermia during surgery can slow the healing process and cause a greater risk of infection.
Blankets can be placed on the lower body or the upper body
In order to remedy this, many procedures rely upon a warming blanket to normalize the patient’s body temperature. There is a heating unit which provides the warmth to the blanket. It forces the air from the unit to the patient. There is a hose that connects the heating unit to the blankets and transmits the heat. Bair Hugger manufactures several different types of blankets that reflect the multiple types of placement of these blankets during surgery. For example, blankets can be placed on the lower body or the upper body. In addition, blankets can either be used on top of the body or beneath the body.
Used in over 80 percent of hospitals
The usage of Bair Hugger blankets has been widespread since the device received FDA approval in 1987. 3M claims that the blankets have been used in over 200 million procedures and are used in over 80 percent of hospitals. 3M purchased the company that designed and originally manufactured these blankets in 2010. The warming blanket is one product in a line of devices aimed at regulating body temperature during surgery.
Risk of Infection – Bair Hugger Warming Blanket lawsuit
There have been several studies released that state that the use of forced air warming during surgery can lead to an infection. This does not occur because the blanket itself exposes the patient to bacteria. However, the alleged problem lies in the actual heating unit. The unit is placed on the floor while it is in operation. The unit expels waste heat while it is forcing air out of the hose. When that happens, the waste heat mixes with contaminated and non-sterile air that is near the floor in proximity to the heater. The heat causes the air to rise and it then circulates throughout the operating room. In other words, the forced air from the heating unit disrupts the sterile air in the operating room.
Contaminated air can reach the incision area
When particles are carried throughout the air, contaminated air can reach the incision area. In 2011, a study in the U.K. found that this particular blanket contributed to a “significant” increased risk of infection. In fact, this study found that the infection rate of patients using the Bair Hugger blanket was 3.1 percent, which was nearly quadruple the infection rate of patients using another type of warming device. Another study in the American Journal of Infection Control found that 58 percent of the heat warmers were responsible for harmful airborne particles.
When patients contract an infection, it is often a deep joint infection. This occurs when the Bair Hugger blanket is used for hip and knee replacement surgeries. In addition, there is the risk of sepsis and MRSA infections for other procedures that rely on the use of this blanket. This can complicate the recovery from whatever the initial procedure was as well as place the patient at risk for loss of life and limb.
Product Liability Lawsuits Against 3M
As a result, there have been numerous Bair Hugger lawsuits filed against 3M due the dangerous nature of the Bair Hugger blankets. There have now been approximately 4,000 lawsuits that have been filed under these facts. For discovery and pre-trial purposes, the cases have been consolidated into a multi-district litigation in the District of Minnesota. While some of these cases have been dismissed, other are starting to go to trial.
Unit pushes out contaminated air
These Bair Hugger lawsuits have been rooted in product liability claims. The plaintiffs have alleged that the fact this unit pushes out contaminated air is the result of a design defect. According to the complaints, there is a safer alternative design that would not elevate the risk of infection for a patient. In addition, 3M is alleged to have known about the possibility that the Bair Hugger blanket could cause infection, yet it failed to warm doctors and patients of the possibility. Instead, 3M has continued to sell the product without any such warnings. In fact, 3M is alleged to have failed to have any action whatsoever after the studies were released claiming that the Bair Hugger blanket was an infection risk. 3M could have ordered further study, but did not do so.
No definitive study
The inventor of the product has claimed that the product that he created is not safe. However, his statements and testimony have been discounted during the course of the litigation since he has since invented a competing system. His testimony would be a central point of any bair hugger lawsuit, but it has not yet been admissible. “Independent experts say there is no definitive study proving or disproving that 3M’s Bair Hugger patient-warming system increases risks of deep-joint infections after surgery.
But it’s not for lack of trying. Dozens of peer-reviewed papers on the Bair Hugger’s safety profile have been published, some critical, some supportive. None has convinced medical experts or judges that using the Bair Hugger leads to surgical infections, which is why juries are now being asked to decide whether they think it’s happening.” Id.
Actionable legal claim
If you have had surgery that has involved the use of a Bair Hugger warming blanket and have developed a post-surgical infection, you should reach out to a Bair Hugger Warming Blanket lawsuit attorney to discuss the facts of your case. The Bair Hugger warming blanket lawsuit lawyer can give you an idea of whether they think you have an actionable legal claim and what the process would be to file a claim. Please check back to this blog for a Bair Hugger lawsuit update. A bair hugger lawsuit will help you get justice and compensation for your injuries and complications. If you are looking for a Camp Lejeune lawsuit lawyer, contact us.
Source:
http://www.startribune.com/legal-war-engulfs-mmm-operating-room-device/502063131/