3M Beats 3M Bair Hugger Warming System Lawsuit: 3M states on one of its websites: “The Bair Hugger patient warming system is an effective way to control a patient’s body temperature during surgery. Keeping people warm reduces the risk of infections, surgical bleeding, heart attack following surgery, the length of hospital stay, and it improves overall outcomes from surgery. The Bair Hugger system is the leading choice for patient warming in the United States and is used by more than 80 percent of U.S. hospitals … Plaintiffs’ lawyers filed lawsuits against 3M claiming the 3M™ Bair Hugger™ warming system caused their clients to get infections … There is no conclusive evidence that the Bair Hugger system’s forced-air warming causes infections … Don’t be fooled by plaintiffs’ claims — they are based on a well-orchestrated misinformation campaign by a 3M competitor with a history of making false and inflammatory statements. There are NO verified cases of infection caused by the Bair Hugger system. 3M does not believe there ever will be.”
In mid-October 2022, 3M posted on its website the following statement: “On Oct. 13, 2022, an Independence, Missouri, state court jury returned a verdict in favor of 3M in the second Bair Hugger trial. 3M has now successfully defended the 3M Bair Hugger™ warming system in the two cases that have gone before a jury. The jury, which heard evidence for two weeks, deliberated slightly more than two hours before deciding in favor of 3M.
The verdict affirms what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and leading medical research organizations have been saying since the start of this litigation: forced-air warming does not increase the risk of surgical site infections. The Bair Hugger technology has benefitted more than 400 million patients and has been safely used globally during surgical procedures to improve post-surgical health outcomes.
3M is encouraged that jurors continue to see past the faulty research and focus on the facts, which are:
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to recommend the use of patient-warming devices, including forced-air warming devices, for surgical procedures when clinically warranted.
- There is no reliable evidence that Bair Hugger causes or increases the risk of surgical site infections.
- Not one scientific study – not even the studies the plaintiffs’ lawyers rely upon to support these lawsuits – provides scientific evidence that the Bair Hugger system causes or contributes to surgical-site infections. In fact, the authors of those studies all explicitly acknowledge that their studies do not establish that the Bair Hugger system causes surgical site infections.
- Several studies recommend warming a patient before surgery, which has been shown to provide valuable benefits including reducing the risk of infections, reduced mortality, fewer post-operative heart attacks, reduced blood loss and faster recovery times.
This latest verdict follows a 2018 federal trial in Minnesota, at which the jury also returned a verdict completely in favor of 3M. The next trial is scheduled to begin in early December in Texas.
We are confident in our product and our case, and we look forward to continuing our successful defense in upcoming trials so that patients continue to receive the care they need.”
If you or a loved one suffered harm due to a defective medical device or implant in the United States, you should promptly consult with a medical device claim lawyer in your U.S. state who may investigate your defective medical device claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a medical device claim, if appropriate.
Visit our website or call us toll-free in the United State at 800-295-3959 to find medical device lawyers in your state who may assist you.
Turn to us when you don’t know where to turn.