A woman who developed a severe hospital infection after a knee replacement surgery filed a Bair Hugger lawsuit claiming that the Bair Hugger  forced-air surgical warming blanket blew bacteria onto her body during surgery, which led to her infection.

Plaintiff Brenda N. of Chicago, Ill. underwent knee replacement surgery in February 2010.

She then developed a MRSA infection that required multiple additional surgeries to clean the infected area, the Bair Hugger lawsuit says. She continues to suffer severe and permanent personal injuries, facing the possibility that her leg may need to be amputated, Brenda claims.

Brenda says her infection was caused by the Bair Hugger Warming System, a portable device that forces heated air through a flexible hose into a disposable blanket that is positioned over a patient during knee surgery. She says the device is defective in that it can blow contaminated air directly onto a patient’s exposed skin and into open wounds.

The Bair Hugger lawsuit says that the blower itself could also become contaminated with bacteria.

“This escaped air creates air flow currents that flow against the downward air flow of the operating room. As this warmed air rises, it deposits bacteria from the floor of the surgical room into the surgical site,” Brenda says.

The Bair Hugger lawsuit further alleges that 3M attempted to conceal their knowledge of the device’s unreasonably dangerous risks of infection not only from Brenda, but from other consumers and the medical community.

About the Bair Hugger Warming System

The Bair Hugger is 3M’s version of a hot air warming blanket. The purpose of the device is to help maintain a patient’s body temperature during surgery, which has proven to lessen bleeding, speed recovery time, and provide other benefits.

For these reasons, forced air warming systems like the Bair Hugger are often used during hip or knee replacement surgery to help maintain a patient’s core body temperature as close to normal as possible.

3M’s Bair Hugger works like a forced-air heater, pushing warm air through a flexible hose into a blanket draped over a patient. To work as intended, the device discharges warm air over a patient’s body, but also releases air under the surgical table.

However, the air discharged under the table can allegedly cause germs and bacteria to become dispersed and recirculated, landing on a patient’s surgical site.

The procedure of recirculating contaminated air over an open surgical wound can result in an infection deep in the patient’s joint, such as sepsis and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). Unfortunately, these hospital infections are very difficult to treat and in Brenda’s case may lead to amputation.

Bair Hugger Lawsuits

Even the inventor of the Bair Hugger warming system, Dr. Scott Augustine, has publicly voiced his concern that the device could be dangerous because the forced air can spread bacteria associated with hospital infections.

Additionally, research published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery found that air circulated by the Bair Hugger system contained 2,000 times more contaminants when compared to air circulated by a similar device.

A number of Bair Hugger lawsuits have been filed against 3M alleging that the device can redirect contaminated air on exposed surgical sites and lead to serious and dangerous infections.

The Bair Hugger Lawsuit is Case No. 0:15-cv-03140, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

If you or a loved one experienced Bair Hugger complications such as deep joint infection after the forced air heating blanket was used during surgery, you may be able to take legal action against the device manufacturer. A Bair Hugger lawsuit may help you obtain compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more.