A heater cooler device is often used during open-heart surgery to help keep a patient’s blood and organs at a specific temperature throughout the procedure.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, certain heater cooler devices may be contaminated, placing patients at risk of developing a serious infection. If you or someone you love has been exposed to infection because of a contaminated heater cooler device, you may be able to pursue litigation.

Basics of the Heater Cooler Device

A heater cooler device is used during an open-chest surgery to help regulate the body temperature of the patient. The device does this by alternately warming and cooling the patient’s blood as deemed necessary. The system uses temperature-controlled water, which is then sent to warming and cooling blankets on the body.

However, if this water becomes contaminated, patients may be placed at serious risk. Though there is no direct contact between the water in a heater-cooler system and the patient, it is possible that the water may become aerosolize (move through the air) or even travel through other parts of the device that may come in contact with the patient.

Contaminated water used during a major surgery could lead to a serious open-chest surgery infection, multiple agencies including the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control have warned.

It is common for a heater cooler device to be used during bypass surgeries—indeed, more than 250,000 such procedures use these devices each year.

CDC Heater Cooler Device Warning

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a Health Alert Notice to both patients and hospitals to warn about the risk of NTM infections. According to the CDC, the Stöckert heater cooler device may be contaminated and expose patients to NTM infection during open-heart surgery.

The contaminant is a bacterial species of Nontuberculous Mycobacterium (NTM), which can cause a serious open-chest surgery infection. Indeed, the contamination led to an FDA recall in 2015 due to the “potential colonization of organisms, including Mycobacterium.”

Symptoms that may indicate infection from a contaminated heater cooler device include night sweats, muscle aches, weight loss, fatigue, or unexplained fever.

Filing a Contaminated Heater Cooler Device Lawsuit

Some patients who have suffered from an open-chest surgery infection may be able to connect the infection with a contaminated device used during surgery. Some patients have begun filing lawsuits alleging that their open-chest surgery infection was caused by one of these contaminated devices. If you or someone you love has suffered from an open-chest surgery infection after heart surgery with the use of a heater cooler device, you may be able to file a lawsuit or join a class action heater cooler device infection lawsuit.

While filing a lawsuit cannot take away the physical and emotional effects of such a serious infection, or bring a loved one back to life, it can help to alleviate the financial burden caused by medical expenses and lost wages.