Medical King recalls 222,000 adult bed assistance rails after one reported death

[November 15, 2024]  NEW YORK (AP) — About 222,000 adult bed assistance rails are under recall due to entrapment and asphyxia hazards, following one death in a residential care facility.

According to a Thursday recall notice published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Medical King is recalling three models of its portable bed rails — because users can become trapped either within the rail or between the product and a mattress.

To date, the medical equipment supplier is aware of one related death. A 66-year-old man died in November 2023 after becoming entrapped between his mattress and a bed rail at a South Carolina residential care facility, Thursday's recall notice notes.

Consumers in possession of the now-recalled bed rails are urged to immediately stop using them — and contact Medical King for a free repair kit or replacement, which will depend on the model.

The models sold include Medical King's “Bed Assist Rail with Adjustable Heights” (model numbers 7007 and 7057) and “Bed Assist Rail Without Legs” (model number 7037). There's no brand-specific labeling on the bed rails, per Thursday's recall notice, but all of them were sold online between January 2020 and March 2024 — including on major platforms like Amazon, Walmart and eBay.

Medical King notes that the easiest way to tell if your bed rail is impacted by the recall is to check receipts or purchase history. More information can also be found on the company's online recall page.

“Medical King cares greatly about the safety of its customers and their loved ones and was saddened by the report of a death associated with its product," a spokesperson for the company said in a statement sent to The Associated Press — noting that it “moved quickly” to conduct a recall with the CPSC after learning of this death.

This image provided by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission shows an example of a Medical King Bed Assist Rail, one of the adult bed rails being recalled Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, due to a risk of death by asphyxiation. (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission via AP)

The spokesperson added that Medical King has redesigned its new bedrails to be compliant with the latest federal safety requirements, which it said came into effect after the unit involved in the reported death had already been sold.

In a separate consumer alert, the CPSC noted that Thursday's recall marks the ninth recall of adult portable beds that the Commission has issued since 2021 — from a handful of different companies or suppliers.

The CPSC says those nine recalls, along with two other product warnings, have been associated with serious injuries and a total of 18 reported deaths. Among other bed rail recalls issued over the last year, Medline, for example, recalled 1.5 million adult bed rails in May after two entrapment deaths.

The CPSC points its new mandatory safety standards for adult portable bed rails — as well as safety tips for installation. That includes ensuring a bed rail is compatible with your mattress, eliminating gaps and not installing multiple bed rails next to each other.

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