When a doctor left behind surgical equipment in the hospital, it caused an infection that led to amputation. Now the patient is suing for damages and saying their condition could have been avoided if they hadn’t received care from this particular surgeon.
The “bair hugger lawsuit update 2021” is a case that has been ongoing for the past 3 years. The plaintiff, Bair Hugger, was suing Johnson & Johnson over the medical device they developed.
Several lawsuits have been filed against Arizant Healthcare, a 3M subsidiary, over their popular Bair Hugger forced-air patient warming equipment. Patients claim the gadget is to blame for deadly infections they contracted after surgery.
Keeping patients warm during surgery might help them heal faster. Bair Hugger warms patients with hot air, but study shows that it also stirs up pollutants from the operating room floor and deposits them in the surgical site. Pathogens introduced to the patient in this way may cause deep joint infections, the need for further surgery, and, in the worst-case scenario, amputation. The prevalence of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms in hospitals makes the danger of infection more problematic.
The Bair Hugger warming system seems to be more susceptible to surgical site infection than other existing patient warming systems.
In a rare admission, Bair Hugger’s creator has spoken out against the equipment, stating that it should not be used for certain procedures. However, the hazards of the Bair Hugger have received little attention, and patients having joint surgery are likely unaware that they are at risk from the warming gadget.
Have you or someone you know had joint replacement surgery and then had a significant infection within 60 days?
Contact ClassAction.com for a free case evaluation and to learn how we can assist you.
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What’s Wrong With Bair Hugger?
During surgery, Bair Hugger employs forced air warming to prevent patients from experiencing a hazardous decrease in body temperature (hypothermia).
A heater/blower machine sucks in air, heats it, and then feeds it via a hose into an inflatable warming blanket that is positioned above or below the patient, depending on the kind of operation. The blanket’s perforations disperse hot air around the patient’s body.
The Bair Hugger is a device that prevents hypothermia in surgery patients, which may raise the risk of surgical site infection and other catastrophic consequences. The Bair Hugger warming technology, on the other hand, seems to be more likely than other other patient warming systems to cause surgical site infection.
Pathogen-laden air currents are blown into the sterile surgical area, where they might infect the patient.
While patient warming is beneficial, forced-air warming, such as that used in the Bair Hugger device, may pose a risk. The Bair Hugger design has the purported flaw—the potential of contamination by air movement.
According to the claims, Bair Hugger waste heat escapes from under the surgical blanket near the operating room floor, mixing with pollutants on the floor and forming rising air currents harboring germs. The germs are subsequently delivered into the sterile surgical area, where they have the opportunity to infect the patient.
Microbial pollutants build up within and are discharged by the Bair Hugger heater/blower unit, according to the lawsuits, and Bair Hugger’s internal filtering system is inadequate to prevent contaminants from entering the operating room. According to court documents, 3M described Bair Hugger’s filtration system as satisfying HEPA requirements (capable of eliminating 99.97 percent of particles), while the Bair Hugger filter is only capable of removing less than 65 percent of particles in its current form.
Plaintiff Claims About Bair Hugger Supported by Research
The cases filed by Bair Hugger include a number of research that they claim support the theory that forced air warming systems contribute to operating room contamination and an increased risk of patient infection.
- “There is minimal indication that the intake filter’s effectiveness is sufficient to prevent airborne pollution emissions or microbiological contamination accumulation in the internal air channel.” – Albrecht, M., and others In the operation room, forced-air warming blowers were evaluated for filtration adequacy and airborne contaminant emissions. American Journal of Infection Control
- “For avoiding the build-up of internal contamination and the emission of airborne contaminants into the operating room, the design of FAW blowers was determined to be dubious.” – D. Leaper et al. Forced-air warming in the operating room: a source of airborne contamination? 2009, Orthopedic Review.
- “During a time when forced-air warming was employed, a substantial rise in deep joint infection, as evidenced by an increased infection odds ratio, was discovered.” – P.D. McGovern, et al. Warming with forced air and ultra-clean ventilation do not combine. J Bone and Joint Surgery is a journal that publishes research on bone and joint surgery.
- “Waste heat caused turbulence above the patient by generating convection currents to rise against the downward unidirectional airflow.” By pulling potentially contaminated particles from underneath the operating table onto the surgical region, the convection currents boosted the particle concentration 1000-fold.” – A.J. Legg et al. Unidirectional airflow is disrupted by forced-air patient warming blankets. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.
Associated Bair Hugger Injuries
In litigation, patients claim that Bair Hugger led them to experience the following injuries:
- Infections of the hip and knee joints are deep (including staph infections, methicillin-resistant S aureus, aka MRSA, and other serious infections)
- Sepsis
- Additional procedures may be required to clear the infection and/or implant a new replacement joint.
- Mobility is permanently restricted or limited.
- Due to an incurable infection, an infected limb must be amputated.
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Bair Hugger Lawsuits Examples
Here are some of the claims made by real plaintiffs in Bair Hugger lawsuits:
- A lady alleges that she had a Bair Hugger warming device implanted in her knee replacement surgery and got a deep joint infection soon thereafter, necessitating many more surgeries to remove the implant and clean the diseased region. Plaintiff has and will continue to have restricted mobility, according to her claim.
- A guy claims that he acquired an infection after having Bair Hugger hip replacement surgery. Three further procedures were necessary to remove the hip implant and clean the diseased and dead tissue in the man’s leg. According to the complaint, much of the Plaintiff’s thigh muscle was gone as a consequence of the illness, and he now has decreased mobility that makes walking difficult.
Allegations in a Lawsuit
3M is accused of the following in the Bair lawsuits:
- The Bair Hugger’s design is flawed.
- Putting a product on the market that is unnecessarily risky
- Keeping the Bair Hugger’s dangers hidden
- Failure to put the Bair Hugger through its paces
- Despite being aware of safety concerns, aggressively promoting the Bair Hugger
- Falsely claiming that the Bair Hugger meets HEPA filtration criteria
- Making inaccurate and purposefully deceptive representations concerning Bair Hugger’s safety
- In face of several peer-reviewed scientific studies identifying key device flaws, failing to redesign, stop, or alert clinicians about the risks connected with Bair Hugger.
- Negligence
- As a consequence of the above-mentioned actions and omissions, causing patient injury
Compensation may be available.
Medical expenditures, missed work time, limited capacity to make an income, lower quality of life, and other damages are covered by personal injury litigation compensation.
Plaintiffs in Bair Hugger claims may be able to sue 3M for the expenses of follow-up surgery due to surgical wound contamination, as well as the costs of rehabilitation and other therapy/services connected to long-term incapacity. They may also be entitled for compensation if they are unable to work (or have reduced earning potential) as a consequence of health issues caused by the Bair Hugger.
Eligibility for a Lawsuit
A patient must meet the following criteria to be eligible for a Bair Hugger lawsuit:
- A Bair Hugger warming device was employed during joint replacement surgery.
- Within 60 days following surgery, I developed a hospital-acquired deep joint infection.
- Experiencing losses as a consequence of the infection, such as lost time in the hospital, further operations, a lengthy or painful recovery, amputation of the afflicted limb, disability, or physical therapy
The Lawsuits Against Bair Huggers Have Been Consolidated in Federal Court
The claims were pooled in Minnesota U.S. District Court as part of a multidistrict litigation because of the huge number of comparable complaints brought against 3M over the Bair Hugger system (more than 800). (MDL). In December 2016, a pool of first cases to be tried in court is scheduled to be picked.
Plaintiffs that join the MDL retain their own counsel and file their own case.
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If you or a loved one had joint replacement surgery using a Bair Hugger warming device and developed a significant deep joint infection as a result, you may be entitled to compensation by filing a lawsuit.
During a no-cost consultation, you may get answers to your concerns concerning Bair Hugger and discover out whether you have a case. You don’t have to pay anything until we get a jury award or a settlement.
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The “bair hugger lawsuit settlements paid” is a lawsuit that was filed by former Bair Huggers against the company. The lawsuit claimed that the product caused surgical infections and medical device lawsuits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Bair Huggers increase infection?
A: Bair Huggers are a character skin that can be bought in-game to increase the speed of your air dashes. The low levels of (mild) bacteria on these patches will decrease any risks associated with having them near exposed areas such as your mouth, but they dont protect against anything like you might have thought.
How much does a Bair Hugger cost?
A: A Bair Hugger is a type of ride that you stand on while being zipped around. It costs somewhere between $10 and $40.
Who owns Bair Hugger?
A: Bair Hugger was created by an independent company that has since gone out of business. As a result, the copyright for this item is left up to whatever publishing rights M.O.D.O.K still holds from when he acquired the intellectual property and all trademarks associated with it during his time as Iron Patriot in Marvel Comics
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