Sponsored message
Logged in as
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen
NPR News

1.5 million adult bed rails are recalled following 2 reports of entrapment deaths

Medical supply company Medline Industries is recalling some 1.5 million Medline Bed Assist Bar adult bed rails across the U.S. and Canada following two reports of entrapment deaths associated with the products.<br/><br/>
Medical supply company Medline Industries is recalling some 1.5 million Medline Bed Assist Bar adult bed rails across the U.S. and Canada following two reports of entrapment deaths associated with the products.<br/><br/>
(
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
/
AP
)

One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.

NEW YORK — Medical supply company Medline Industries is recalling some 1.5 million portable adult bed rails across the U.S. and Canada, following two reports of entrapment deaths associated with the products.

The recall impacts two models of Medline's “Bed Assist Bars." According to a Thursday announcement from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, users of these bed rails can become entrapped within the bed rail itself or between the product and the side of a mattress when it's attached to a bed.

This poses “a serious entrapment hazard and risk of death by asphyxiation,” the CPSC notes.

To date, the Commission added, Medline has received two reports of entrapment deaths associated with the recalled Bed Assist Bars in the U.S — involving a 76-year-old woman who died in an Iowa senior nursing facility in 2019 and a 87-year-old woman who died at a South Carolina residential care facility in 2023.

One additional injury in the U.S. has also been reported, according to Health Canada's Thursday announcement. No injuries or incidents in Canada were reported to Medline as of Monday, Health Canada noted.

Medline sold about 1.5 million of the now-recalled Bed Assist Bars from July 2009 through March 2024 in the U.S. — through its own websites and major retailers online, including Amazon and Walmart. They cost between $32 and $64. More than 5,500 were additionally sold in Canada between February 2013 and March 2024.

The recalled bed rails, which were manufactured in China, can be identified by two model numbers: MDS6800BA and MDS6800BAH.

Sponsored message

The CPSC and Health Canada urges consumers in possession of these products to stop using them immediately — and contact Medline to request a refund.

The Associated Press reached out to Northfield, Illinois-based Medline for statement Thursday.

Copyright 2024 NPR

One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.

You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.

If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief

Make your tax-deductible donation today