A woman has filed a lawsuit after her husband acquired an infection after undergoing a heart transplant.

Plaintiff Jennifer R., widow and legal representative of the estate of Hector B., filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, for the Southern District of Florida, Fort Lauderdale Division on July 21, 2017.

This lawsuit concerns an infection after heart transplant that her husband acquired because of a defectively designed Sorin 3-T cardiac heater cooler device used in surgery.

The device was the Stockert 3T heater cooler, designed and manufactured by LivaNova PLC. LivaNova PLC, Sorin Group Deutschland GMBH, and Sorin Group USA Inc. are all named defendants in this case.

The deceased was and the plaintiff is a resident of the State of Florida. According to the factual allegation section of the legal documentation, the decedent was admitted to Memorial Healthcare System on July 22, 2013 for a mitrovalve replacement and a aortacoronary double bypass surgery. In this surgery, a Stockert 3T heater cooler device was used.

In September 2015, a little over two years later, Hector had an infectious disease evaluation at Jackson Health System as he was preparing for a cardiac transplant. The tests revealed a positive culture for M. abscessus, a non-tuberculosis mycobacteria.

He underwent treatment for this from January to February 2016. In February 2016, the decedent underwent a full heart transplant. Analysis of his heart tissue discovered an extensive M. abscessus infection after heart transplant.

What is a Heater Cooler Device and What Has Caused Infections?

A cardiac heater cooler device is a unit designed to keep a patient’s blood and internal temperature stable during open heart or chest surgeries. The patient’s blood does not meet the temperature controlled water, but the heat transfer from the water tank gently keeps it warm as it circulates near.

Though the tank is sealed, certain bacteria can accumulate inside the machine. Researchers believe the bacteria can aerosolize into the sterile field of an operating room through condensation and the exhaust fan of the machine. The latency period after exposure can be two to five years.

Notification of Source of Infection After Heart Transplant

After Hector was diagnosed with an infection after heart transplant, he was treated with IV antibiotic therapy for more than a year. During that period, he received a letter from Memorial Healthcare System telling him of his likely exposure to Mycobacterium chimaera because of the hospital’s use of a certain type of heater cooler device during cardiac surgery.

The widow and plaintiff in this case, Jennifer, states in the legal documentation that her husband suffered excruciating and agonizing physical pain and psychological distress.

She holds the defendants liable for her husband’s suffering and for all the financial difficulties she experienced trying to pay hospital and medical bills to get all the help she could for him. Finally, she holds the defendants responsible for the loss of comfort, companionship, and consortium that has resulted from the death of her husband.

Because of Hector’s infection after heart transplant, Jennifer is bringing the following counts against the developers and makers of the Stockert 3T heater cooler device: Design Defect; Manufacturing Defect; Warnings Defect; and Loss of Spousal Consortium.

She is asking for a positive judgment in her case against the defendants with appropriate punitive and compensatory damages ascertained according to the evidence presented in court. She is also asking for all accumulated pre-judgment and post-judgment interest.

The Infection after Heart Transplant Lawsuit is Case No. 0:17-cv-61455-WPD in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Fort Lauderdale Division.