A man who developed a severe hospital infection after a right hip replacement filed a lawsuit claiming the Bair Hugger, a forced-air surgical warming blanket, blew bacteria onto his body during surgery and caused his infection.

Plaintiff Tawas R. of Fort Worth, Texas underwent hip replacement surgery in June 2014. He developed a MRSA infection that required two additional surgeries to remove the implant and clean the infected area within less than nine months, his lawsuit says. He continues to suffer from impaired mobility and has difficulty walking.

Tawas says his infection was caused by the Bair Hugger, a device that forces air into a disposable blanket that is draped over a patient during surgery. He says it can blow bacteria-tainted air directly onto a patient. The blower itself could also become contaminated with bacteria, according to the lawsuit:

“This escaped air creates air flow currents that flow against the downward air flow of the operating room. As this warmed air rises, it deposits bacteria from the floor of the surgical room into the surgical site.”

The Bair Hugger lawsuit further alleges that 3M attempted to conceal and discredit any scientific data that indicated an increased risk of hip and knee infections with the use of the Bair Hugger.

What is the Bair Hugger Warming System Used For?

The Bair Hugger is 3M’s version of a forced hot air warming blanket. The purpose of the device is to help maintain a patient’s body temperature during surgery, which has proven to lessen bleeding, speed recovery time, and provide other benefits. For this reason, forced air warming systems are often used during hip or knee replacement surgery to help maintain a patient’s core body temperature as close to normal as possible.

3M’s Bair Hugger works like a forced-air heater, pushing warm air through a flexible hose into a blanket draped over a patient. To work as intended, the device discharges warm air over a patient’s body, but also releases air under the surgical table.The air discharged under the table can cause germs and bacteria to become dispersed and recirculated, landing on a patient’s surgical site.

The procedure of recirculating contaminated air over an open surgical wound can result in an infection deep in the patient’s joint, such as sepsis and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Unfortunately, these hospital infections are very difficult to treat.

Bair Hugger Lawsuits

Even the inventor of the Bair Hugger warming system (Dr. Scott Augustine) has publicly voiced his concern that the device could be dangerous because the forced air can spread bacteria associated with hospital infections.

Additionally, two 2013 studies published in Bone & Joint Journal and Anesthesia & Analgesia found forced-air warming significantly increased the number of airborne particles over the surgical cite. The studies did not conclude the additional particles carried bacteria, but they found the increased particles a cause for concern.

A number of Bair Hugger lawsuits have been filed against 3M alleging that the heat generated by the device can redirect air circulation during surgery.

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

The Bair Hugger Lawsuit is Case No. 0:15-cv-03143-SRN-JSM, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.