A woman from North Carolina recently filed a Bair Hugger lawsuit against 3M Company and Arizant Healthcare, which alleges their warming device had caused her to develop a joint replacement infection.

This woman’s claim is joining other patients who also allegedly developed serious infections due to the Bair Hugger warming blanket.

Plaintiff Linda D. says she underwent total left hip replacement surgery on July 10, 2008, during which the Bair Hugger Forced Air Warming system was used to help control her body temperature. Bair Hugger forced air warming blankets are disposable blankets that are connected to portable heaters, which blow hot air onto the patient’s skin while under anesthesia.

The device is used to help regulate body temperature, which has been shown to improve the recovery outcomes of surgeries.

However, the forced air warming blanket may pose serious health complications to patients during hip and other joint replacement surgeries, due to the blankets allegedly picking up contaminants in the surrounding environment.

This is reportedly what happened during Linda’s surgery. She allegedly developed a joint replacement infection soon after the surgery. Linda has since had to undergo a number of serious treatment procedures including having an antibiotic spacer implanted on March 11, 2009, which had to be replaced just several days later.

Linda says she has contended with the long term side effects of joint replacement infection and opted to file legal action soon after discovering that the forced air warming blanket could have been the cause.

Overview of Bair Hugger Complications

Forced air warming blankets are supposed to blower sterile hot air onto the patient’s skin, but the device’s mechanical function may be causing the risk for infection. According to several studies, the Bair Hugger and other forced air warming blankets may disrupt the sterile environment in operating rooms by causing convection currents.

These convection currents could collect air from non sterile areas in the room, including the floor, and blows them onto the surgical site. One of these studies to observe this was a 2011 study published in the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, which found that surgical sites had been exposed to bacteria pathogens due to forced air warming blankets.

Another 2011 study had found a similar correlation, which reportedly found that Bair Huggers and other forced air warming blankets had produced airborne contaminants. This study was published in the American Journal of Infection Control, which found that 58 percent of forced air warming blankets had this defect.

Patients who develop deep joint infections from forced air warming blankets may have to undergo additional surgeries as well as extensive hospital treatment, due to the severity of the condition. Even though these complications can be devastating to patients, 3M Company and Arizant Healthcare allegedly failed to disclose this information to the general public.

At all times relevant, Linda and her surgeons allegedly relied on the marketing materials and product information provided by the companies and had no way of knowing about the potential risk of deep joint infection. Linda’s Bair Hugger lawsuit is joining MDL No. 2666, where it will be streamlined through the litigation process.

This Bair Hugger Lawsuit is Case No. 0:19-cv-00502-JNE-DTS, in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota.