Ashley Milano  |  September 27, 2016

Category: Legal News

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Bair Hugger InfectionThe Bair Hugger Warming System has been allegedly linked to adverse health complications, including deep joint infections, when used during hip or knee replacement surgery.

These infections have prompted a number of Bair Hugger lawsuits against the device’s manufacturer, 3M.

One such Bair Hugger infection lawsuit has been filed by a Pennsylvania man, who alleges the Bair Hugger surgical warming blanket directly caused contaminants to be introduced into his open surgical wound during knee surgery.

Plaintiff John S., along with his wife Ellen, filed the Bair Hugger infection lawsuit claiming he developed a severe “periprosthetic joint infection (PJI), also known as a deep joint infection” after a right knee replacement surgery in Sept. 2014.

As a result of his infection allegedly caused by the Bair Hugger, John says he was forced to undergo a secondary right knee revision surgery with irrigation and washout with antibiotics to treat the severe infection in July 2015.

What is the Bair Hugger Warming System?

The Bair Hugger Warming system is a medical device that is used in hundreds of thousands of surgeries each year throughout the United States.

Maintaining a patient’s body temperature during surgery has several benefits, including decreased bleeding and a shorter recovery time.

The Bair Hugger device is a forced-air warming system that blows warm air into a blanket that is placed over the patient during surgery.

Bair Hugger Infection Risks

The most serious potential side effects allegedly associated with use of a Bair Hugger warming blanket are deep joint infections, especially in the hip and knee during replacement surgeries. Potential treatments for these infections include a combination of surgical procedures and antibiotic therapy.

In severe cases, amputation, joint fusion, or removal and a two-stage revision surgery may be necessary.

Patients who are not candidates for a second surgery are usually treated with long-term antibiotic suppression.

Bair Hugger Infection Lawsuit Cases Consolidation

It is being alleged that, during knee and hip replacement surgeries, this recirculated air can introduce harmful bacteria into the surgical site, causing deep joint infections.

These types of complications have prompted over one hundred patients to file Bair Hugger lawsuits.

At present, there have been 112 Bair Hugger infection lawsuits in which the plaintiffs, like John S., claim that they sustained joint infections following surgery to replace knee and hip joints.

Complex lawsuits involving multiple plaintiffs are commonly transferred to one court in a process called multidistrict litigation (MDL).

Cases are consolidated in MDL to expedite pre-trial issues, such as discovery, and to ensure consistent rulings on evidence that will be common to all cases.

Each individual case remains separate, and plaintiffs are free to retain their own legal counsel and make their own decisions concerning settlements and proceeding to jury trials.

Due to the amount of Bair Hugger lawsuit cases filed against 3M and the given similarities in regards to allegations, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) centralized the cases in Minnesota federal court in Aug. 2015.

If you or a loved one has experienced complications after having surgery in which a Bair Hugger system was used, please contact an experienced defective medical device attorney to explore your legal rights.

John’s Bair Hugger Infection Lawsuit is filed within the larger Bair Hugger MDL, In Re: Bair Hugger Forced Air Warming Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2666 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

In general, Bair Hugger lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.

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