3M Turned Down by US Supreme Court on Medical Blanket Lawsuits

3M Co. lost a bid Monday for US Supreme Court review of a decision reinstating consolidated litigation over Bair Hugger surgical warming blankets that allegedly caused severe infections.

3M asked the Supreme Court in February to hear the case, saying the Eighth Circuit applied an erroneously permissive standard in allowing the joint-replacement patients’ expert witnesses.

The Bair Hugger consists of a portable heater and blower connected by a flexible hose to a blanket. It warms patients by blowing heated air through the blanket onto their exposed skin. Plaintiffs allege the device disrupts the airflow in operating rooms, allowing contaminated air ...