3M™, the company that currently makes and markets the Bair Hugger™ adamantly denies claims that this forced air warming blanket presents undue risk of infection in surgical patients. This denial is supported by a large body of scientific research and cases studies with findings contrary to the claims made by plaintiffs in Bair Hugger™ lawsuits. In fact, multiple studies have found that use of a Bair Hugger™ may actually significantly reduce rates of post-surgical infection and blood loss, shortening hospital stays and speeding patient recovery. A small sampling of these studies and their conclusions in favor of the safety and efficacy of the Bair Hugger™ can be found here.
A growing number of individuals are filing personal injury lawsuits in pursuit of compensation after they suffered serious injuries or the loss of a loved one due to infections allegedly caused by a Bair Hugger forced air warming blanket. Most of these lawsuits have concerned infections sustained during knee or hip surgery, but recently a woman filed a Bair Hugger lawsuit after suffering an infection following stomach surgery.
Heather Wheeler filed her Bair Hugger lawsuit on May 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, naming both 3M Company and their Arizant Healthcare subsidiary as defendants. Here, she claims that use of a Bair Hugger during her stomach surgery caused her to develop a serious MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) infection. She also claims that the makers of the Bair Hugger had been warned of the risk of infection linked to their device, but failed to modify the warming blanket system to eliminate this potentially fatal risk.
The Bair Hugger forced air warming blanket was invented by Dr. Scott Augustine and is designed to move warmed air over a patient during and after surgery with the intention of reducing blood loss and speeding recovery. Dr. Augustine sold the rights to the Bair Hugger to Arizant Healthcare, which was then purchased by 3M. For years, Dr. Augustine himself has warned that the design of the Bair Hugger may allow it to circulate dirty air from operating room floors directly over open wounds and significantly increase the risk of hospital-acquired infections. Dr. Augustine even warned about Bair Hugger infection risks in a New York Times article in 2010.
Heather Wheeler underwent pyloric valve surgery in June 2015. This procedure involves widening the bottom of the stomach to ease the passage of contents into the intestines. A Bair Hugger warming blanket was used during the procedure, and she claims that this caused her to contract a serious MRSA infection. As a result of her infection, Wheeler required additional surgical procedures and also suffered diminished mobility which has substantially complicated her recovery and affected her daily life.
In her lawsuit, she claims that 3M and Arizant knowingly put countless patients at risk, stating, “The publication of numerous peer-reviewed studies identifying and documenting the critical safety shortcomings of the Bair Hugger should have prompted the Defendants to redesign or discontinue their product. Instead, those criticisms only caused the Defendants to amplify their efforts to champion the Bair Hugger.”
So many people have filed Bair Hugger lawsuits that they were consolidated into a multidistrict litigation (MDL) before U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen in the District of Minnesota in December 2015. Since these lawsuits are based on common claims, centralization will help to reduce duplicative discovery, prevent conflicting rulings, and serve the convenience of all parties involved.
If you or someone you love has suffered a serious infection after a Bair Hugger was used during surgery, or if you have lost a loved one to a Bair Hugger infection, you may be entitled to compensation for your pain and damages. To learn more, please contact us to schedule a free legal consultation with a personal injury lawyer you can trust.
