When a patient undergoes heart surgery, a device called a cardiac heater cooler is commonly used to keep the patient at a controlled temperature necessary for his or her survival and quick recovery.

Cardiac heater-cooler units help keep a patient’s circulating blood and organs at a specific temperature. However, the CDC has issued heater cooler warnings to hospitals as there have been reports of patients contracting serious bacteria as a result of the use of these devices.

In October of last year, the Centers for Disease Control issued heater cooler warnings to hospitals stating that Liva Nova’s Stockert 3T heater cooler device was unsafe and had the potential to spread bacteria to patients.

As part of the CDC-issued warnings, they suggested that hospitals notify the patients who have been affected or potentially affected by possible bacteria from heater cooler device use.

Becker’s Hospital Review reports that they have spoken with six hospitals that have issued heater cooler warnings to patients. Indiana University sent 6,500 patients at several of its sites heater cooler warnings. Becker’s reports that no patients had yet been diagnosed with an infection.

Reportedly, Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis sent heater cooler warnings to over 400 patients last December. There were no reports of infections from patients that underwent surgeries at this hospital.

Franciscan Health medical facilities in Indiana also sent out notifications to their heart surgery patients. As of Becker’s report, no patients from these facilities had been found to have a heater cooler infection.

Additionally, 600 heater cooler warnings were sent to Community Health Network of Indianapolis patients, however no patients have been diagnosed with a heater cooler related infection.

In the South Carolina area, Spartanburg Healthcare System sent out over 2000 heater cooler warnings to their patients, and the Medical University of South Carolina Health warned 3,000 patients. In both places, no reports of bacterial infection were made.

Even given that no reports of infection in these six hospitals were made, there have still been numerous reports of infection from heater cooler devices as well as multiple lawsuits against the manufacturers filed.

What is the CDC Warning Patients About?

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention is encouraging heart surgery patients to seek medical care if they are experiencing certain symptoms such as night sweats, muscle aches, weight loss, fatigue or unexplained fever.

They report that more than 250,000 heart bypass procedures using these heater-cooler devices are performed every year in the United States. This makes up 60% of all U.S. heart bypass surgeries.

The CDC believes that in hospitals where at least one infection has been diagnosed, the risk of another patient contracting a heater-cooler related infection was about one in 100 to one in 1000.

If you or someone you love suffered from an infection after use of a heater cooler device during heart surgery, you may be able to pursue legal recourse. A specialized attorney can answer any questions you may have.