A heart surgery infection lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa on Sept. 1, 2017.

The plaintiffs, Dennis J. and Donna J., are bringing complaints against the LivaNova company, makers of the 3T heater-cooler device used to maintain and regulate body temperature during thoracic surgeries.

Dennis J. was the recipient of a letter in late August 2016 from Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa. This letter advised that between July 2012 and July 2016, chest surgery patients may have been exposed to a rare but serious bacterium known as M. chimaera.

This announcement came on the heels of multiple press releases with identical information. The bacterium in question was slow-growing, naturally-occurring and benign as encountered in the environment, but potentially deadly when allowed to incubate internally after breaking the sterile field of the operating room during open chest interventions.

Dennis had already suffered physically, mentally, and emotionally a great deal by then, his lawsuit states. According to the legal documentation of this heart surgery infection lawsuit, he had had an aortic graft repair in July 2012 at Mercy Medical Center. By March 2015, he had started to experience a collection of symptoms such as chronic fatigue, shortness of breath, and coughing jags. His primary care doctor treated him with antibiotics, but by July of the same year, the fatigue returned.

In this heart surgery infection lawsuit, the narrative states that Dennis J. was admitted to the hospital and subjected to numerous tests, some of which were quite painful such as a bone marrow biopsy. By September, his physician had identified that he was positive for a mycobacterium that had spread throughout his body. He released the information to his patient.

Under the direction of his doctor, Dennis agreed to be admitted to Mayo clinic and have his care transferred to that of Dr. Luke T. Hafdahl. The documentation of the heart surgery infection lawsuit states that in this setting, Dennis was subjected to specific blood draws and cultures, CT scans, audiology and ophthalmology testing.

The results of the testing indicated significant hearing loss in each of Dennis’ ears and bilateral lesions on the retinas of his eyes. He was established on a regimen of antibiotics and released from the Mayo clinic the last week of September. It was less than a month later that he received his letter from the hospital.

Both Dennis and Donna have suffered together, according to the narrative of this heart surgery infection lawsuit. Dennis continues to experience pain, fatigue, and hearing loss in both ears. The couple has endured numerous financial setbacks while pursuing medical treatment. They are bringing the following counts against the defendants: Negligence, Design Defect; Strict Liability, Manufacturing Defect; Negligence, Warnings Defects; and Loss of Spousal Consortium.

The plaintiffs are asking for a trial by jury with an award of compensatory and punitive damages. They are also asking for the return of all litigation fees to include court costs and attorney fees. They hope for pre-judgement and post-judgement interest to be added to the award.

The Heart Surgery Infection Lawsuit is Case No. 4:17-cv-00324-RGE-CFB in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.