There are many products available in retail stores that advertise assisting the elderly and otherwise medically impaired. Whether it is a hearing aid or a comfortable pillow, these devices are not prescriptions, and are assumed to be safe for the use of the general public. It can quickly become a problem when these “helpful” products pose hazards to their users.
Most recently, a portable bed handle manufactured by Bed Handles Inc., has been voluntarily recalled from store shelves. Sold in home health care stores, drug stores, and medical equipment stores nationwide, these bed handles pose entrapment and strangulation hazards to those using them. The adult bed handles were also sold in home and health care catalogs, bringing the amount of recalled portable bed handles to about 113,000.
Three deaths have been reported with use of the handles. Three elderly women died after operating certain models of the bed handles that did not require the use of safety retention straps to secure the bed handle to the bed frame. The portable bed handle was able to shift out of place, creating a dangerous gap in which the women became entrapped in the space.
For more information the models recalled, see this article.
If you purchased a portable bed handle distributed by Bed Handles Inc., you should immediately stop using the product and contact the company for a free safety retention strap. This will secure your portable bed handles to your bed frame.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury go online to www.SaferProducts.gov, or call CPSC’s Hotline at (800) 638 2772, or teletypewriter at (301) 5957054 for the hearing impaired. Consumers can obtain news releases and recall information at www.cpsc.gov, on Twitter @OnSafety or by subscribing to CPSC’s free email newsletters.
“Ontel Recalls Isometric Exercise Devices” by US CPSC, used under CCBY02
