An Iowan family recently filed a heart surgery infection lawsuit against medical device manufacturer LivaNova after the father was diagnosed with infection following exposure to deadly bacteria.

The plaintiff, Ronald R., underwent open heart surgery back in June 2013. During surgery, a Sorin 3T Heater-Cooler System was used to heat and cool the blood as necessary, a relatively common aspect of open heart procedures.

In February 2016, Ronald received a letter from the hospital that performed the surgery that he had been exposed to a potentially deadly bacterium linked with nnontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM).

Ronald was not the only one who had been exposed. In total, patients who underwent major surgeries between January 2012 and January 2016 at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC)—around 1,500 patients total—had been exposed to the rare and possibly deadly bacteria. The exposure was caused, the hospital noted, by Sorin 3T Heater-Cooler Systems that had become contaminated, the same machine used during Ronald’s surgery.

By February, blood tests returned positive for M. Chimaera, the bacterium inked with NTM infection. Since then, Ronald has had to undergo a number of medical procedures and treatments, including bone marrow biopsies, triple antibiotic therapy, and long term steroid therapy. He has suffered from progressive vision loss, as well as significant medical expenses due to these additional and unforeseen complications.

Ronald filed a heart surgery infection lawsuit along with his wife Helen and on behalf of his two children on Oct. 17, 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. The heart surgery infection lawsuit was filed on multiple counts, including defective design, manufacturing defect, and negligence for failure to warn.

A growing number of heart surgery patients are reporting serious infections and complications, allegedly due to contaminated heart surgery devices used during surgery. These infections can be serious and, in some cases, deadly. For others, it causes serious harm and medical expenses.

Heater-Cooler Device Basics

Heater-cooler devices are often used during heart surgeries. They are meant to regulate a patient’s blood and organ temperature, warming and cooling the blood as needed during procedures. Heater-cooler devices are manufactured by a number of companies, including LivaNova.

The Sorin 3T Heater-Cooler System, manufactured by LivaNova, is one such system. However, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) warns that during the manufacturing process, each of these devices may have been contaminated with a bacterial species of nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recalled the Sorin3T Heater-Cooler System on July 15, 2015—just two years after Ronald’s open heart surgery. A CDC warning notes that during the manufacturing process, some devices may have become contaminated, meaning that patients undergoing surgery with a contaminated heart surgery device may be at risk of developing serious infections, including NTM.

Filing a Heart Surgery Infection Lawsuit

If you or someone you love has suffered from an NTM or other bacterial infection or other complications after undergoing heart surgery with the use of a device like the Sorin 3T Heater-Cooler System, you may be able to file a lawsuit or join a class action heart surgery infection lawsuit.

While filing a heart surgery infection 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.

The Heart Surgery Infection Lawsuit is Case No. 3:17-cv-00063-JAJ-SBJ, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.