3M To Face 1st Bair Hugger System Bellwether Trial on May 14

3M To Face 1st Bair Hugger System Bellwether Trial on May 14

Introduction

The first Bellwether trial in Bair Hugger System multidistrict litigation (MDL) commenced on May 14, 2018, in Minnesota Federal Court. According to the plaintiff from South Carolina, who underwent a total knee replacement surgery in November 2016, 3M’s forced-air heating blanket was defectively designed, which led to the surgery site infection eight months post-surgery. The plaintiff sued 3M Co. and Arizant Healthcare Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, alleging that his infection was caused by microorganisms aerosolized in the operating room floor.

In October 2017, Judge Joan N. Ericksen, the presiding Judge for MDL No: 2666, in the District of Minnesota, released an order for the case-specific discovery of similar 3M cases to be trial-ready by April 30, 2018.

The trial for the plaintiff case is expected to last three weeks. Verdicts from this bellwether trial will provide insights into how the jury will react in similar cases. There are more than 4,000 lawsuits pending against 3M in the federal multidistrict litigation.

Earlier, two 3M Bair Hugger System cases were selected for the upcoming trial to begin on or after April 30, on the basis that the plaintiffs involved allegedly suffered infections caused by 3M’s Bair Hugger warming blankets used during their total knee replacement surgeries. Claims made by both the cases are similar that defendants 3M Company and its Arizant Healthcare subsidiary sold a dangerous and defectively designed product that caused severe and debilitating deep joint infections. The selected cases were filed by a plaintiff from South Carolina and a couple from Idaho.

The Bair Hugger system is a surgical warming blanket that treats, prevents, and monitors unintended hypothermia and its associated problems in surgical patients. It is marketed under the 3M Bair Hugger brand name. It was approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1988 as the first surgical blanket that worked on a forced-air system. The company offers 25 Bair Hugger blankets in various styles and sizes offering a warming tool for any surgical procedure.

It works on a system devised by Dr. Scott D. Augustine and consists of a portable heater/blower connected by a flexible hose to a blanket that blows warm air around the patient’s body to help maintain his body temperature during surgery. Faster recovery time and less bleeding are a few of the benefits that have been revealed by a study performed in patients who were kept warm during surgery.

In October 2017, Judge Joan N. Ericksen, presiding over the centralized litigation, MDL No: 2666, in the District of Minnesota, released an order for the case-specific discovery and disposition motions of these cases to be trial-ready by April 30, 2018.

This month, Judge Ericksen denied a defense motion seeking to dismiss a design defect claim made by a plaintiff and also denied the defense request to exclude the plaintiff’s expert witness testimonies. The judge did grant the defense motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s failure to warn claims.