Many hospitals intentionally keep operating rooms cold, but maintaining normal body temperature for patients helps prevent heart problems during recovery. Today, more than 80% of U.S. hospitals use Bair Hugger patient warming systems during surgery. Unfortunately, patients undergoing orthopedic procedures (such as artificial hip and knee replacement) face serious, life-threatening infection risks. Due to how the Bair Hugger machine circulates air throughout an operating room, many orthopedic implant patients report deep-joint infections. Patients needing revision surgery, limb amputations and other complications may now file a Bair Hugger lawsuit against 3M and Arizant.

What Is Bair Hugger?

Bair Hugger is a single-use forced-air warming (FAW) blanket that’s designed to keep patients warm during orthopedic implant surgery. The Bair Hugger warming system is specifically used to help regulate a patient’s body temperature and prevent hypothermia. However, medical studies show alarming infection risks with FAW devices in operating rooms. One study found that 24% of FAW blowers emitted “significant levels of internally generated airborne contamination.” Yet another published in the Anesthesia & Analgesia journal found that Bair Hugger could deposit bacteria-laden air into surgical sites.

Bair Hugger Lawsuit Information

In recent years, several orthopedic surgery patients who developed severe Bair Hugger infections filed lawsuits against the device’s manufacturer, 3M. Plaintiffs now allege that 3M knew about potential infection risks, yet failed to properly inform the public. Texas native Tommy Walton filed a Bair Hugger lawsuit in 2013, demanding $1 million in damages. Walton needed 15 revision surgeries and ultimately had his artificial hip implant removed due to severe recurrent deep joint infections.

One Kansas man who developed MRSA (antibiotic-resistant staph infection) after knee replacement surgery sued 3M in April 2014. Plaintiff Timothy Johnson used the Bair Hugger warming blanked during his artificial knee replacement surgery in September 2010. During that procedure, Johnson sustained a perisprosthetic infection allegedly due to “the introduction of contaminants” into the open surgical incision. Eventually, Johnson’s infection became so severe that his leg had to be amputated. A few years earlier in 2010, Dr. Scott D. Augustine, Bair Hugger’s inventor, vigorously spoke out against Bair Hugger. Dr. Augustine warned hospitals that Bair Hugger poses serious infection risks during joint replacement surgery.

Bair Hugger Lawsuit Filings Centralized in Minnesota MDL

In 2016, a Minnesota MDL consolidated hundreds of individual Bair Hugger lawsuit claims across the country. Due to severe deep joint infections and other health complications, attorneys are still accepting product liability claims against Bair Hugger. If you suffered from severe infections soon after undergoing orthopedic implant surgery using Bair Hugger, you may have a claim. Click the button below to start your case review now and an attorney will contact you to discuss your case.