Thousands of 3M Bair Hugger Warming System Suits Reinstated

3M Co. faces nearly 6,000 reinstated lawsuits by patients alleging they developed severe infections from the Bair Hugger warming system used during joint replacement surgeries, following an Eighth Circuit ruling.

Testimony from the plaintiffs’ experts that the Bair Hugger can cause infection was incorrectly barred as unreliable, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said on Monday.

The appeals court also reversed a district court’s grant of summary judgment to 3M and its Arizant Healthcare Inc. unit, which followed the order excluding the experts.

Plaintiffs allege the forced-air system, used to maintain patient temperature during procedures, caused infections ...