Nearly 500,000 bed rails sold nationwide are being recalled after two separate reports claimed that adult users were trapped between the bed rails and mattresses and died of suffocation.
The recall involves four models of Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare’s Bed Assist Handle and Bed Assist Rail adult portable bed rails, which are sold online and online in medical stores, Amazon and Walmart, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, and medical equipment suppliers in Port Washington, New York. Service announced on Monday.
The company received two death reports involving two bed rails, one in February 2011 and the other in February 2015. A 93-year-old woman died at her home in California, and a 92-year-old man was in an assisted living facility in Canada. In both cases, suffocation occurs when the user is trapped between the product and the mattress.
From October 2007 to December 2021, Drive sold approximately 496,000 recalled rails at a price of $30 to $80. In addition, 68,000 pieces were sold in Canada and approximately 120 pieces were sold in Mexico.
Those who purchase rails should stop using them immediately and contact Drive for a refund by calling (877) 467-3099, Monday to Friday, 8 am to 7 pm Eastern time, or visit here or here online.
The name "drive" and the model number are printed on the label on the metal tube of the product. The guide rail is made of steel tube, white or chrome plated. The RTL15063-ADJ and RTL15073 models include black non-slip mats on the handles and under the bed frame. Type 15062 is characterized by a wooden underbed board attached to the handle. Model RTL125063-ADJ has also been recalled.
In April, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission warned Americans that three types of portable bed rails may cause the death of four elderly or disabled persons, which may cause a risk of suffocation. The agency’s alert involved rails recalled six years ago and then sold with seat belts that were deemed to solve the hazard.
According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, from 2003 to 2019, an estimated 69,000 adults were treated in emergency rooms of US hospitals for rail-related injuries. According to a July 2020 briefing by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, among these incidents, there were 260 cases involving adult portable bed rails and 247 deaths.
Usually purchased for sick or frail elderly people, guardrails or metal poles are used in hospital beds and home care, with the purpose of helping patients get up or preventing them from falling off the bed. But these products-sold as safety devices-have proven to be useless and sometimes fatal to the thousands of elderly and disabled patients injured by them.
CPSC announced new safety standards in June to effectively eliminate tilted sleep in infants under five months of age, because these products are associated with many infant suffocation deaths.
However, decades of efforts to prevent similar hazards faced by elderly and disabled Americans have largely failed. In 2013, in a petition from Public Citizen and other advocates urging the ban on the use of bed rails, the federal agency that oversees the product shifted to focus on recalls and setting voluntary standards to improve its safety.
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First published on December 8, 2021 / 1:03 PM
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