3M Gets Claims Narrowed in Warming Blanket Test Trial

3M Co. and its unit Arizant Healthcare, Inc. got claims narrowed in the first test trial alleging a “Bair Hugger” surgical warming blanket caused a patient’s infection during joint replacement surgery.

Louis and Lillian Gareis’s case is set to begin May 14. It will be the first test trial in federal multidistrict litigation over the Bair Hugger warming system, which is used to maintain patient temperature during procedures. More than 4,300 suits are pending.

Testimony from the couple’s experts raises fact questions that a jury must resolve concerning whether Bair Hugger caused Louis Gareis’s infection, the U.S. District Court for ...