A group of lawsuits filed on behalf of patients who suffered serious infections from a surgical warming blanket have been sent to a Minnesota federal court, creating multidistrict litigation.
Langdon & Emison, a nationwide personal injury law firm, is reviewing and accepting cases involving the Bair Hugger warming blanket, a device used to maintain patients’ normal body temperature during hip and knee replacement surgeries.
The Bair Hugger warming blanket, made by 3M Company and its subsidiary Arizant Healthcare Inc., is used in 80 percent of U.S. hospitals. A growing number of lawsuits allege the 3M Bair Hugger warming blanket exposed patients to contaminated air from the operating room, causing MRSA, sepsis, and other serious infections and complications.
The Problem with the 3M Bair Hugger
The 3M Bair Hugger system works by forcing warm air through a hose into a special blanket that is draped over the patient. Patients treated with the 3M Bair Hugger warming blanket may be exposed to contaminated air from the operating room.
The system allows warm air to accumulate and escape below the surgical table, causing contaminants, such as bacteria, to become airborne. It can also create a current that deposits bacteria from the operating floor back into the blanket and the surgical site.
During surgery, the warm air passes over the patient’s skin, escapes from the sides of the warming blanket, dips into the dirty air near the floor and then rises, along with any bacteria it might be carrying into the surgical site.
As a result, patients have a greater risk of developing a post-surgical infections or other complications, including repeat hospital stays, additional surgeries or amputation of limbs.
Contact Langdon & Emison
Langdon & Emison provides free case evaluations and will review potential 3M Bair Hugger claims at no cost or obligation to you. For a free case review, contact our firm at 866-931-2115 or complete a contact form.