Bair Hugger, designed and manufactured by a subsidiary of the giant 3M Co., is a special blanket-type product that provides a steady stream of warm air to patients during surgery. However, it is now the subject of a legal battle, as a patient claims the Bair Hugger caused him to develop a post-operation infection.

Seventy-year-old  plaintiff Tommy W., a resident of Texas, filed the Bair Hugger lawsuit. He claims the blanket product led to an infection during and following his hip replacement surgery.

According to Tommy’s complaint, the Bair Hugger blanket product discharged the warm air under the surgical table, where it picked up germs. The lawsuit alleges that the germ-contaminated air rose with the heat and was recirculated into the surgical site where the doctors were installing the Tommy’s hip replacement product. As a result of the infection, Tommy alleges he was required to undergo 15 additional surgeries and eventually forced to remove his artificial hip device.

Tommy is seeking over $1 million in damages. He names 3M, Arizant Healthcare Inc., and specific sales representatives from both companies who work in the state of Texas as defendants in this Bair Hugger lawsuit.

When asked about the product’s safety, 3M spokesman Stephen Sanchez said the company “is very confident about the safety and efficacy of the Bair Hugger.”

According to Tommy’s attorney, the Bair Hugger lawsuit will remain an individual suit and not a class action. However, if enough plaintiffs with similar infection injuries allegedly stemming from the use of the Bair Hugger product band together, a multidistrict litigation could be established.

Background on Bair Hugger

The Bair Hugger is a single-use blanket product that has become popular among doctors and patients in surgical situations. The blanket allows a patient’s body to maintain a normal body temperature during surgery, which according to the manufacturer 3M is clinically proven to reduce surgical complications like infections. The blanket allows a patient to keep warm, while not heating the entire operating room to an uncomfortable level

Tommy’s Bair Hugger lawsuit isn’t the first time that the product’s safety has been called into question. Dr. Scott Augustine, the inventor of the Bair Hugger, has questioned whether or not the product is safe to use during operations. He left Arizant in 2002, about 14 years after he introduced the Bair Hugger blanket to the medical market. Since then, he has created a new surgical blanket called the Hot Dog, which does not used forced air to heat the patient.

In response to the Bair Hugger complications and his objections to his first product’s safety, Dr. Augustine noted five peer-reviewed studies published within the last few years that support the contamination side effects associated with the Bair Hugger’s air flow system, and how the contamination is linked to an increased risk of deep joint infection for surgery patients.