3MTM Bair HuggerTM System is Safe and Effective Patient Warming Therapy - Response to Misstatements in Lawsuits, September 2016

“3M is sympathetic to patients who experience surgical site infections. Any surgery that causes a break in the skin can lead to a post-operative infection. About one of every 100 patients undergoing a joint arthroplasty procedure develops an infection after surgery. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control notes that the majority of surgical site infections come from bacteria in the patient’s own body. There are many factors that are known to increase the risk of surgical site infections, including having other medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease, being elderly or overweight, and smoking. There is absolutely no evidence that 3MTM Bair HuggerTM warming therapy causes or increases the risk of surgical site infections.