Request A Consultation
Copyright © 2025 Kennedy Law Firm. All Rights Reserved, Reproduced with Permission
If you have been injured or experienced pain or other complications after your hip replacement surgery because of an infection that has been linked to a warming blanket, you should consult with an attorney. Specifically, the Bair Hugger Forced Air Warming Blanket has been found to have defects, which have resulted in introducing bacteria into the body, causing infections. If that happened to you, you should consult with an attorney to learn more about your legal rights.
Hip replacement surgery can be difficult for the body, and the Bair blanket was used to deliver heat to the body to help increase blood flow to those areas that need to heal. Increased blood flow can help the body by allowing the body to continue moving nutrients and other substances to the hip, which helps facilitate recovery. The Bair blankets are used in the recovery of about 80 percent of hip and knee replacement surgeries in the U.S.
The Bair blanked works by using a heater and a blower together to deliver air through a disposable blanket. However, researchers found that those blankets have been exposing patients to bacteria and other microorganisms commonly in operating rooms, and that exposure can lead to infections that are difficult to treat. Studies have found that when a Bair blanket was used, there were 2,000 times as much contamination at the surgical site.
If you believe you have been infected because of the use of a Bair Hugger blanket after your hip or knee replacement surgery, you should speak with an attorney.