Lawyers are investigating the Bair Hugger infection risk after scores of patients claimed the device, used to regulate patient temperature during joint replacement surgery, is defective and dangerous. A new Bair Hugger lawsuit has joined a multi-district litigation (MDL) that alleges a design defect in the Bair Hugger introduces infection into patients during surgery, potentially resulting in serious injury.

Plaintiff Mary B. joins the Bair Hugger infection risk MDL claiming that the Bair Hugger device was used during her hip replacement surgery on April 2, 2015. She claims that as a result she developed a “periprosthetic joint infection (PJI)” otherwise known as a deep joint infection (DJI).

She claims that this infection required her to undergo revision surgery, which included “irrigation and debridement with exchange of the femoral head and acetabular liner” around June 11, 2015. She claims that her injuries, caused by the infection she allegedly contracted as a result of the use of the Bair Hugger system in her initial surgery, included physical and economic injury.

Mary argues that 3M Company and Arizant Healthcare Inc., makers of the Bair Hugger warming system, were negligent in producing a defective device and releasing it into the market, that they knew or should have known that the device carried risks but sold it nonetheless, and fraudulently concealed and misrepresented the device’s defects in selling it.

Mary joins the Bair Hugger MDL to seek damages for her alleged injuries, and restitution for 3M Company and Arizant Healthcare Inc.’s alleged unjust enrichment.

According to patients participating in the Bair Hugger infection risk lawsuit, the design of the device is such that it introduces infection into the patient.

Risks with the Bair Hugger

The Bair Hugger device is a blanket that uses water to regulate the temperature of a patient undergoing surgery. Within the device, water moves through a number of tanks. Though the water itself does not come into contact with a patient, bacteria and particles from the water can be released into the air and enter a patient’s surgical site.

Patients claim that the design does not allow for adequate cleaning of the component parts, meaning that the device can never or rarely be cleaned well enough between uses to be completely sterile.

Allegedly, the 3M Company and Arizant Healthcare knew of the Bair Hugger infection risk as early as 2009, but did not take the device off the market, nor warn physicians and patients. Patients claim that “amid rising criticism of the Bair Hugger among the medical community, [the companies] callously and with conscious disregard of patient safety chose to amplify their efforts to champion the device and silence critics.” These efforts allegedly included an attempt to discredit peer reviewed scientific studies.

Lawyers are in the process of investigating more patient claims of infections caused by the Bair Hugger. If you or a loved one suffered infection after a Bair Hugger was used in a joint replacement surgery, you may have a legal claim.

The Bair Hugger Infection Risk Lawsuit is Case No. 0:15-md-02666-JnE-FLN.