LAKEVILLE, Minn - More than 1,400 Minnesota veterans have been receiving certified letters in the mail this month notifying them they are at risk of a potentially deadly infection.

It is part of a massive effort by hospitals nationwide to warn patients that equipment used in many heart surgeries may have been contaminated with a dangerous bacteria.

Craig and Jean Brewster of Lakeville are among those being notified.

“As if we haven’t dealt with enough,” said Jean, as she rubbed her husband’s leg. “Now one more thing that’s wrong.”

Craig and Jean Brewster of Lakeville.

Craig had a triple bypass three years ago at the Minneapolis VA. He now has a pending tort claim that alleges the VA was negligent in his post-surgical care. He claims poor care resulted in a stroke.

“It was a nightmare. They didn’t take care of me,” said Craig. “The anticoagulation wasn’t what it should have been,” he explained.

The Brewsters' attorney, Ben Krause, shared medical opinions from both outside and internal VA experts that appear to back up that claim, however, other VA experts maintain the standard of care was met in Craig’s case.

The stroke left Craig partially paralyzed and struggling with his speech. He says he has also developed a series of unexplained health issues.

“I have to have ice on my head when I go to bed .. because I’m so .. it hurts,” Craig tried to explain.

Jean finished his thought for him.

“He’s hot all the time, he has to sleep with ice packs on his head, because he’s so hot,” she said. “He just feels like he has a temperature all the time.”

They now wonder whether Craig’s symptoms could be from the bacteria they’re just now being warned about.

“It’s like, is it from a bacteria? We haven’t been tested yet,” said Jean, “but it makes me wonder.”

Surgery infection warning.

While the VA is now sending out warning letters, this is not an issue isolated to the VA and veterans like Craig. Back in October, the CDC warned that heater-cooler units used during open heart surgeries to keep a patient’s circulating blood at a specific temperature may have been contaminated in the manufacturing process. Since then, hospitals all across the country have been notifying patients about a possible infection called nontuberculous mycobacterium or “NTM.” The CDC estimates that more than half a million patients nationwide may be at risk.

The Minnesota Department of Health tells KARE 11 that more than 10,000 people in the state were potentially exposed between 2012 and 2016. MDH also reports two confirmed cases of NTM infections linked to contaminated units in Minnesota.

Over half of all U.S. health care facilities that perform open-heart surgery use the LivaNova PLC (formerly Sorin Group Deutschland GmbH) Stöckert 3T heater-coolers which are the devices at the center of this contamination issue.

The CDC says the risk of infection is very low, but there have been several deaths reported across the country.

Because the bacteria linked to the infection is slow growing and can take several years to manifest, patients who’ve had heart surgery since 2012 are being warned. Symptoms include night sweats, muscle aches, weight loss, fatigue, and unexplained fever.

“He has some of the symptoms that they’re listing for that possible bacteria as far as night sweats and fatigue and some of those symptoms that he’s had to deal with,” Jean Brewster said as her husband nodded in agreement.

The couple is now making plans to get Craig tested for an NTM infection.

If you have a suggestion for an investigation, email us: investigations@kare11.com