The Bair Hugger forced air warming blanket system is used in thousands of hospitals across the country. The system was designed to keep patients warm during surgery, reduce the risk of infections and improve recovery times. However, many lawsuits filed allege that the device is flawed and may contribute to post-operative deep joint infections.
Joint replacement infections can develop while you’re still in the hospital or after you go home. There are many complaints from patients alleging their infections were caused during the actual joint replacement surgery itself when a forced-air warming unit commonly used by hospitals called the Bair Hugger was used.
In October, we saw a multidistrict litigation (MDL) established to consolidate power morcellator lawsuits against Ethicon, a unit of Johnson & Johnson. In November, U.S District Judge Kathryn Vratil of Kansas overseeing the MDL, appointed the first plaintiffs steering committee in multidistrict litigation made up of a majority of women members.
In an October 15, 2015 Order, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) decided to consolidate 15 federally filed power morcellator lawsuits for coordinated pretrial proceedings, transferring the cases to the District of Kansas under the Honorable Kathryn H. Vratil.
