A defective medical device used during hip and knee replacement surgery is harming innocent Americans. They may need a hip or knee infection after surgery lawsuit provided by the Willis Law Firm.
Such a medical device is known as the Bair Hugger, a forced warm air-flow blanket that’s used to cover patients during joint implant surgery and prevent hypothermia. The device is estimated to be used in about four-fifths of hospitals in the United States, where it’s been applied to an estimated 180 million patients since its introduction in 1988.
Unfortunately, the Bair Hugger has been shown in study after study to contribute to infections in the surgical site by siphoning air from the operating room which has germs and bacteria and spreading it over the site.
Studies Show Bair Hugger Dangers
Many recent studies have shown the dangers of applying a Bair Hugger device (commonly misspelled as “bare hugger” or even “bear hugger”) during joint replacement surgery or possibly surgery to replace a heart valve.
According to a 2011 study, deep-joint infections arose at a significantly greater rate when forced-air warming such as that of the Bair Hugger was provided to patients, rather than an alternative warming system using conductive fabric.
Studies done in 2012 determined that such forced-air warming of patients could disrupt ventilation airflows designed to eliminate airborne contaminants, and also found that forced-air warming led to a significantly higher number of particles in the vicinity of the surgical site.
A study in 2013 concluded that a forced-air warming blanket might draw harmful particles from below the operating table to the surgical site.
Other studies have shown that the 1,000-plus watts of rising heat made by the Bair Hugger’s blowers raise contamination off the operating room floor and place it in the surgery site, with up to a 217,000% increase in contamination associated with the Bair Hugger.
Perhaps most revealing was a study published in late 2011 in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery revealing that a Bair Hugger forced-air warming device was connected to a 3.8 times increase in deep joint infections. A hospital which then stopped using the Bair Hugger and instead used air-free conductive fabric warming had its rate of PJI (peri-prosthetic joint infection) plummet by 74%.
The study said this suggests that most of the 12,000 to 20,000 PJIs reported yearly in America might be connected to forced-air warming.
Even the creator of the Bair Hugger, Dr. Scott D. Augustine, has come to conclude that the device is defective and can cause harmful infections when applied during orthopedic surgery. Dr. Augustine, who no longer owns the device, now campaigns against his own invention.
Bair Hugger Injuries
Injuries from a Bair Hugger device can extend beyond an immediate infection to include multiple revision surgeries to correct the problem and potentially an amputation of an infected limb.
One Texas man said a Bair Hugger infection caused him to have 15 more surgeries, and despite those surgeries he still suffered permanent injury. A Kansas said his Bair Hugger infection forced him to have an amputation.
Victims Have Legal Rights
But victims of Bair Hugger injuries have legal rights. They can seek fair and fitting financial remedies for their losses by means of a hip or knee infection after surgery lawsuit.
Such a lawsuit can claim payments for losses including pain, suffering, lost present and future salary and the costsof hospital and medical care.
Notify the Willis Law Firm today of your joint infection injury after a surgical procedure which employed the forced-air warming blanket known as the Bair Hugger, and let us help you size up your chances for a successful injury lawsuit against its owner and seller, 3M. It’s believed 3M has been aware of Bair Hugger infection dangers for years, yet it still has issued no Bair Hugger recall, while reaping billions of dollars in its sales.
Contact our law firm today, and let’s launch the process of seeking justice for you and your family. The Willis Law Firm is ready to help. Let us help you.