Defendants Denied Summary Judgment in Bair Hugger Warming System Action

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge has denied defendants summary judgment in an action alleging a post-surgical infection caused by the Bair Hugger Blanket Warming System, ruling there are questions of fact as to whether the device contaminated the operating room air and the open surgical site.

In a Feb. 14 order, Judge John Gallagher of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania further ruled there are issues concerning whether the plaintiff’s doctors were adequately warned of the risk of infection and whether an enhanced warning would have altered their decision to use the Bair Hugger.