A Wisconsin woman recently filed a new lawsuit against 3M Company, alleging she suffered from a serious Bair Hugger joint infection after a surgery that used the Bair Hugger warming system.

The plaintiff, Dorothy P., underwent right total knee arthroplasty surgery on June 28, 2010. During surgery, a Bair Hugger Forced Air Warming system was used to regulate her body temperature. Unfortunately, in the weeks following her surgery, Dorothy says she began to suffer from a deep joint infection caused by the pathogen staphylococcus aureus.

The lawsuit alleges that this is a Bair Hugger joint infection, caused when Dorothy’s open surgical woman was contaminated by use of a Bair Hugger device. As a result of the Bair Hugger joint infection, Dorothy has had to undergo further treatment to alleviate the infection.

Dorothy’s Bair Hugger joint infection lawsuit was filed on July 3, 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. The lawsuit was filed on multiple counts, including negligence, failure to warn, defective design and manufacture, breach of express and implied warranties, and several others.

Basics of the Bair Hugger Warming System

This Bair Hugger joint infection lawsuit and others like it allege that 3M Company was actually aware that the Bair Hugger warming system was connected with unreasonably dangerous risks, and had been aware for years, but chose to conceal these risks from the public and the medical community.

The company has been aware of these major Bair Hugger side effects since at least 2009, lawsuits claim. However, the company continued to aggressively market the product as safe and effective for use during surgeries.

While 3M Company claims that the Bair Hugger’s filtration system meets High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) Standards, which require that the filter can remove 99.97 percent of particles larger than 0.3 microns, patients say the Bair Hugger can only remove less than 65 percent of these particles.

Plaintiffs allege that the Bair Hugger warming system actually exposes patients to contaminants in the room by blowing hot air on exposed surgical sites.

The air currents sweep up and deposit bacteria from the floor, blowing them into the surgical site and allowing for severe infections, such as deep joint infections, which can cause permanent damage, necessitate further operations, and cause serious physical and financial harm. More than 50,000 Bair Hugger units are in use across the country.

Filing a Bair Hugger Joint Infection Lawsuit

More and more patients are coming forward with claims that the Bair Hugger device caused serious and sometimes permanent infection and injury during surgeries. If you or someone you love has suffered from infection or injury after undergoing a surgery in which a Bair Hugger was used, you may have cause to file a Bair Hugger side effects lawsuit.

The Bair Hugger Joint Infection Lawsuit is Case No. 0:18-cv-01870-JNE-FLN, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.