Latest Updates about 3M™ Bair Hugger™ Therapy
September 20, 2016
Watch this video, which shows the surgical draping process for a simulated hip replacement. The draping process starts by sealing the Bair Hugger warming blanket to the patient’s chest with an adhesive strip so that air cannot escape back toward the surgical site. Next, a cotton blanket is placed over the upper body blanket followed by multiple layers of surgical drapes. Finally, a surgical drape separates […]
August 20, 2016
At 3M’s request, the federal court overseeing litigation involving the Bair Hugger Patient Warming System hosted a Science Day session on May 19, designed to allow the parties an early opportunity to educate the Court on their respective views of the science. At Science Day, 3M’s experts outlined the safety and benefits of the Bair Hugger’s system and pointed to the lack of any scientific proof […]
July 20, 2016
It’s worth reading this November 2015 study and watching the accompanying videos, available here. They do a great job of explaining how airflow works in an operating room, and use science to show that the Bair Hugger Warming System did not disrupt clean operating room airflow and did not move air from the floor to the surgical site.
July 19, 2016
John P. Abraham, Ph. D., University of St. Thomas and Jennifer A. Wagner, Ph. D., Prism Environmental Health and Safety Solutions The Bair Hugger Warming System provides a safe and effective way to maintain normal body temperature during surgery. When used properly the Bair Hugger Warming System lowers the risk of hypothermia and improves patient recovery and surgery outcomes (i.e. reduces risk of surgical site infection, […]
June 20, 2016
A trauma center at a Dallas hospital reduced average times that patients suffered lower body temperatures by using the 3M Bair Hugger warming system more frequently. This story details improvements at Parkland Memorial Hospital, which trained its trauma staff to use the warming system more frequently. Abnormal body temperature is an independent predictor of death in trauma. While patient warming systems are used widely in emergency rooms, […]
June 10, 2016
Of all the questions surrounding patient warming, the most burning is this: Do forced-air warmers circulate contaminants that can cause wound infections, as a spate of recent lawsuits alleges? Read on as we tackle this and other hot topics surrounding your quest to maintain normothermia. 1. Does forced-air warming cause SSIs? Of the many proven benefits of maintaining normothermia, perhaps the greatest is that it staves […]
May 20, 2016
Top Class Actions has invited 3M to respond to recent coverage of lawsuits filed against 3M regarding its Bair Hugger Surgical Warming System. 3M believes strongly that none of these cases have merit and is eager to prove that in court. There is no valid evidence that anyone has ever contracted a surgical site infection from the Bair Hugger system. Likewise, there is no scientific study […]
May 10, 2016
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a Warning Letter to 3M competitor Scott Augustine in 2012 for making claims about his company’s device that were not supported by data submitted to the FDA. The FDA said Augustine’s Hot Dog Warming System is “adulterated’’ and “misbranded’’ as a result of the claims made by Augustine. From the FDA letter: “Please notify this office in writing within […]
October 9, 2018
More than 500 lawsuits now have been dismissed – all in favor of 3M – in the litigation involving the 3M™ Bair Hugger™ warming system. The large number of dismissals result from a variety of reasons: Plaintiffs are unable to substantiate their claims. Plaintiff’s attorneys have voluntarily dismissed cases, including bellwether cases they nominated for trial. The Bair Hugger system may not have been used during […]
November 20, 2018
3M secured two more pivotal victories in the multidistrict litigation involving the 3M™ Bair Hugger™ warming system as plaintiffs’ attorneys dismissed another two bellwether cases. The two dismissals now bring the number of bellwether cases dismissed by plaintiffs’ attorneys to six. Lawyer Seth Webb of the law firm of Brown & Crouppen voluntarily dismissed David Henderson v. 3M and Julio & Maria Ramirez v. 3M on […]
December 4, 2018
3M scored two more victories this week when plaintiffs’ attorneys dismissed two more bellwether cases in the multidistrict litigation involving the 3M™ Bair Hugger™ warming system. The latest dismissals came on December 3, 2018, when plaintiffs’ lawyers voluntarily dropped Ruth and Douglas Goodpaster v. 3M and Terry Arnold v. 3M. So far, plaintiffs’ attorneys have voluntarily dismissed eight bellwether cases, which were considered representative of the […]
December 24, 2018
3M continued its string of victories in the litigation involving the 3M™ Bair Hugger™ warming system, when a federal district court dismissed a bellwether case, Axline v. 3M, on December 21. As a result, plaintiffs’ attorneys now have withdrawn, or courts have dismissed, a total of ten bellwether cases, which initially were selected to be representative of the other cases in the multidistrict litigation (MDL). Indeed, […]
January 15, 2019
Court upholds dismissal of 61 Minnesota cases Ruling extends 3M’s string of victories in 3M™ Bair Hugger™ system litigation 3M won another significant legal victory on Jan. 14, 2019, when the Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s dismissal of 61 cases that inappropriately blamed the Bair Hugger patient warming system for surgical site infections. The appeals court affirmed a decision by a Ramsey County […]
April 1, 2019
Here is the latest update on the status of the multi-district litigation involving the 3M™ Bair Hugger™ warming system. Of the 14 bellwether cases selected thus far in this litigation: One case went to trial and 3M won. Nine have been withdrawn by plaintiffs before ever reaching trial. One was dismissed by a federal district court. Another was dismissed by a Minnesota state court. One was […]
April 1, 2019
State Supreme Court denies plaintiffs’ request to review rulings 3M scored another victory in the Bair Hugger litigation on March 27, 2019, when the Minnesota Supreme Court denied a request to reconsider the dismissal of 61 cases that improperly blamed the Bair Hugger patient warming system for surgical site infections. The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the decision of the Ramsey County District […]
August 1, 2019
Court dismisses all federal lawsuits against Bair Hugger system. In an important win for 3M, a federal court on July 31 dismissed all of the federal lawsuits against the 3M™ Bair Hugger™ patient warming system, granting 3M’s motion that argued there is no scientific support for claims that the Bair Hugger system can cause infections. On August 1, 2019, 3M issued a press release regarding the […]