Bair Hugger Lawsuit Court Schedules November Conference, As Cases Exceed 800 in Federal Forced Air Warmer Litigation, Bernstein Liebhard LLP Reports

NEW YORK, Oct. 31, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hundreds of hip and knee replacement infection lawsuits involving the 3M Company's Bair Hugger forced air warmer blanket continue to move forward in the U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota. Per the Court's calendar, the proceeding's next Status Conference is to be convened on November 17, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. CST. (In Re: Bair Hugger Forced Air Warming Products Liability Litigation – MDL No. 2666)

Bair Hugger lawsuits continued to be filed in the District of Minnesota, as an update recently issued by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) indicates that there were 809 cases pending in the proceeding as of October 17, 2016. That represents an increase of 116 filings since September 15^th, when the Panel reported 693 pending cases.

"Our Firm continues to receive inquiries from individuals who allegedly developed debilitating hip and knee replacement infections following implant surgery that involved the use of the 3M Bair Hugger. We are monitoring the federal litigation closely, and look forward to further updates when the Court convenes its Status Conference next month," says Sandy A. Liebhard, a partner at Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing victims of defective drugs and medical devices. The Firm is offering free, no-obligation legal review to hip and knee replacement patients who were allegedly harmed by the Bair Hugger surgical blanket.

Bair Hugger Litigation

The Bair Hugger surgical warming system was developed by Arizant Healthcare, Inc. – now a subsidiary of the 3M Company – in 1987. Today, it is employed by thousands of hospitals around the U.S. to help prevent hypothermia in patients undergoing surgical procedures, including hip and knee replacements. The Bair Hugger consists of a portable heating unit that is connected to a single-use, disposable blanket via a flexible hose. During and after surgery, ambient air is drawn into the heater and warmed. The warmed air is then gently forced into a Bair Hugger blanket which has been placed over the patient.

The Bair Hugger litigation now underway in Minnesota was established by the JPML in December 2015, in order to allow all federally-filed claims of this nature to undergo coordinated discovery and other pretrial proceedings.  Initially, just 14 cases were transferred to the District of Minnesota.

Plaintiffs who have filed Bair Hugger lawsuits claim that the apparatus suffers from a design defect that allows potentially contaminated air from the operating room floor to come into contact with the sterile surgical field, greatly increasing the risk that a hip or knee implant patient will develop a deep joint infection following their surgery. 3M and Arizant are accused of ignoring this alleged flaw for years, and of failing to make design changes or provide appropriate safety warnings to the medical community.

Patients who developed serious deep joint infections following a Bair Hugger assisted hip or knee replacement may be entitled to file their own forced air warmer lawsuit. To obtain a free, no-obligation legal review of your potential case, please visit Bernstein Liebhard LLP's website, or call the Firm directly at 800-511-5092.

About Bernstein Liebhard LLP
Bernstein Liebhard LLP is a New York-based law firm exclusively representing injured persons in complex individual and class action lawsuits nationwide since 1993. As a national law firm, Bernstein Liebhard LLP possesses all of the legal and financial resources required to successfully challenge billion dollar pharmaceutical and medical device companies. As a result, our attorneys and legal staff have been able to recover more than $3.5 billion on behalf of our clients. Bernstein Liebhard LLP is honored to once again be named to The National Law Journal's "Plaintiffs' Hot List," recognizing the top plaintiffs firms in the country. This year's nomination marks the thirteenth year the firm has been named to this prestigious annual list.

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Bernstein Liebhard LLP
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