Mayo Clinic Latest Hospital to Warn Patients of NTM Risk with Heater-Cooler Units

Written by Atlee Hall

According to a recent article in Consumer Reports, the list of hospitals now advising its patients of the serious risk posed by the LivaNova heater-cooler units is growing and now includes the world-famous Mayo Clinic.  The Mayo Clinic has hospital campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota. It recently warned more than 17,000 open heart surgery patients and patients who had been on life-support that its Sorin 3T devices pose a risk of nontuberculous mycobacteria contamination.  The Clinic estimates that it has 24 of the 3T devices which it used between 2012 and June, 2016, and acknowledges the seriousness of the risk.

To date, NTM infections have been reported in 16 U.S. hospitals across 10 states.  Atlee Hall has been involved in representing the interests of those persons affected by the LivaNova/ Sorin device since October, 2015. We currently have commenced litigation in several venues throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and anticipate more cases in the near future. Recently, it was discovered that NTM had contaminated units used at theUniversity of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia and the Children’s Hospital of Boston.  With the announcement of contamination at the Mayo Clinic campuses, this issue is sure to give rise to additional questions regarding the safety of the device’s design.