A new patient has joined the multidistrict litigation over Bair Hugger knee replacement infection complications, claiming that a design defect in the medical device caused her to develop an infection.

The Bair Hugger is a medical device that uses a warming blanket to keep a patient’s body temperature consistent and elevated while they are under anesthesia during surgeries including knee replacements.

Plaintiff Marilyn K. claims that she had a knee replacement surgery on Oct. 10, 2010, on her right knee. She claims that during this surgery, the Bair Hugger was used. Allegedly, as a direct result of the use of this device during her surgery, she developed an infection of enterococcus bacteria.

She claims that this infection required her to have revision surgery to remove and replace the knee replacement installed during the initial surgery. She also claims that she had to take antibiotics for an extended period of time to combat the infection.

Marilyn goes on to claim that had she known of the risk of Bair Hugger knee replacement complications, she would not have wanted the device used in her surgery.

Marilyn claims that a design defect in the Bair Hugger left her and other patients vulnerable to infection, because it allowed unfiltered air to enter an otherwise sterile exam room. She claims that the company knew or should have known that the device was defective, but manufactured and marketed it nonetheless, putting patients at serious risk for injury.

The Bair Hugger infection multidistrict litigation states that the device blows warm air onto a patient’s skin during surgery, via a hose that is attached to a portable heater. Allegedly, the device usually sits near the operating table, and can take in contaminants like dead skin cells.

The device then allegedly compromises the sterile surgical environment by causing a temperature change in the air, which in turn produces convection currents that draw in air from an unsterile environment or existing contaminants in the operating room. Allegedly, this occurrence then transfers the unsterile air and any bacteria it may be carrying onto the patient.

The Bair Hugger design defect multidistrict litigation claims that in the cases of patients undergoing joint replacement surgeries, this event can cause them to develop deep join infections, which are very dangerous.

Allegedly, a 2011 study investigating Bair Hugger knee replacement infection complications showed that 58 percent of forced air warming blankets introduced airborne contaminants into an otherwise sterile environment.

This risk is especially serious because reportedly, even a small amount of bacteria can cause a patient to develop serious joint infections. 

The forced air blanket multidistrict litigation claims that the 3M Company and Arizant Healthcare, Inc., the makers of the Bair Hugger, failed to warn patients and medical professionals of the Bair Hugger knee replacement infection complications. Marilyn K. and other patients believe that the companies should be held accountable for patient injury that resulted from the device.

The Bair Hugger Knee Replacement Infections Complications Lawsuit is In Re: Bair Hugger Forced Air Warming Products Litigation, Case No. 0:18-cv-01877, in the U.S. District Court, for the District of Minnesota.