The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) has sent out a warning about the risk of life-threatening infection after heart surgery to thousands of veterans.

By issuing this warning, the VA is joining hospitals across the country in their mission to inform patients about equipment used during heart surgery that may have been contaminated with dangerous and even deadly bacteria.

Craig B., a veteran living in Minnesota, had triple bypass a few years ago. Since the surgery, he has had a stroke and has experienced serious complications, including partial paralysis and trouble with speech capabilities. Craig and his wife, Jean, filed a tort suit against the VA, assuming that these complications came from a failure or negligence on their part.

After the warning came from the VA, Craig and Jean wonder: are these complications a result of this bacteria that may have contaminated surgical equipment during his triple bypass surgery three years ago?  It’s possible, and it’s something the couple plans to look into.

Heart Surgery Device Contamination

The device in question is a cardiac heater cooler system which is used to adjust and control the temperature of an open-chest surgery patient’s blood.

The warnings from the VA about life-threatening infection after heart surgery are not alone. In fact, the CDC and the FDA have both issued similarly warnings to heart surgery patients nationwide. The issue does not affect just veterans or those treated at the VA, but patients at hospitals everywhere.

The VA’s warnings, as well as those from the FDA and CDC, note that devices like the heater cooler may have been exposed to bacteria, and thus introduce potentially life-threatening contamination during surgery.

Some patients who have been affected by contamination from devices during heart surgery have filed lawsuits against those responsible for the contamination.

One kind of infection of particular concern in lawsuits like these is nontuberculous mycobacterium, or NTM, which is linked with specific symptoms that patients should be on the lookout for, including night sweats, aching muscles, joint pain, weight loss, fatigue, and fever.

Symptoms may not appear immediately after surgery—in some cases, they may remain dormant for up to several months after the initial infection. This makes it difficult for some patients to connect the surgery with their infection symptoms.

Because of this, diagnosis for an NTM infection caused by a contaminated heart surgery device can be delayed for months or even years.

After a 2015 report from Swiss researchers showed a link between heart surgery patients and NTM infection, both the CDC and the FDA published alerts about heater cooler device systems and others like it. Similar cases have since been identified in Pennsylvania, Iowa and Michigan.

According to the CDC, over half a million patients across the United States may be at risk of this life-threatening infection after heart surgery.

If you or someone you love has suffered from a life-threatening infection after heart surgery with the use of a heater cooler device and think a contaminated heart surgery device may have been the cause, you may be able to file a postsurgical infection lawsuit.