The 3M Bair Hugger Warming Blanket has been linked with serious infections which can cause death, amputation, hospitalization and the need for additional surgery.
Lawsuits claim the devices can blow bacteria from off of the surgery room floor and into open surgical wounds, causing joint infections during knee or hip replacement surgeries.
Call us today for a free consultation or send us a text from this page if you or a loved one developed an infection after a surgery in which a Bair Hugger device was used. We will not charge a fee to represent you unless and until we obtain financial compensation for you.
Bair Hugger Lawsuit 2023 Latest News And Updates
- April 2023 update: Plaintiffs’ lawyers are attempting to remove the judge who has been overseeing the Bair Hugger MDL since 2015. The lawyers allege that U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen secretly retained the services of a retired defense lawyer who handled products liability cases. The lawyers allege Ericksen hired this lawyer to serve as an adviser while she considered a motion by 3M to exclude opinions from expert witnesses called by the plaintiffs. The lawyers contend Ericksen failed to disclose this lawyer’s involvement because revealing the lawyer’s role would have demonstrated bias.
- In February 2022, 3M asked the United States Supreme Court to review an appellate court’s decision to reject a 3M request to reinstate lawsuits in the Bair Hugger MDL. The lawsuits had previously been dismissed by Judge Ericksen, who had decided that testimony by the plaintiffs’ expert witnesses wasn’t reliable enough and wasn’t based upon sound science.
- In February 2022, Judge Ericksen appointed a mediator to explore resolution of issues or possible settlements in the Bair Hugger MDL. Ericksen appointed Arthur Boylan, a retired U.S. Magistrate Judge, as the mediator.
- In November 2021, a 3M request to review the decision to reinstate the lawsuits in the Bair Hugger MDL was rejected by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
- In August 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reinstated lawsuits in the Bair Hugger MDL. The appeals court found that Judge Erickson had erred when she dismissed the lawsuits in 2019 based on the merit of expert opinions’ arguments. The appeals court found that while those arguments might be questionable, they were still adequate enough to be presented to a jury.
- In July 2019, Judge Ericksen granted a 3M motion to exclude testimony presented by the plaintiffs’ expert witnesses.
- In December 2015, all Bair Hugger lawsuits were consolidated into an MDL to be handled in the District of Minnesota. U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen was assigned to oversee the MDL.
