Posts Tagged ‘ Deceptive Advertising ’

Watchdog Goes After Portable Bed Rails Citing Deaths

November 28th, 2012. By AbiK

Consumer watchdog group, Public Citizen has asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to order Bed Handles, Inc. —makers of portable bed rails used by the elderly or infirm—to stop its deceptive advertising practices.

According to a letter sent by Public Citizen to the FTC, Bed Handles claims its Bedside Assistant bed handles are safe—”[making] and bed a safer bed”. However, Public Citizen notes, the bed handles have been responsible for four deaths.

The Public Citizen request calls for:

1. An immediate ban the marketing of Bedside Assistant bed handles, model numbers BA10W and BA10W-6, manufactured by Bed Handles, Inc., because these devices have directly caused the deaths of at least four adult patients through entrapment and subsequent strangulation or positional asphyxia and therefore present “an unreasonable and substantial risk of illness or injury” …

2. An immediate order for Bed Handles, Inc. to recall all Bedside Assistant bed handles, model number BA10W and BA10W-6, that have been sold or distributed; and

3. An immediate investigation by the FTC to thoroughly assess the association between (a) the design and use of all similar bed handle or bed rail devices manufactured by Bed Handles, Inc. or any other manufacturer and (b) the risk of life-threatening injury or death due to entrapment and subsequent strangulation or positional asphyxia, and as appropriate, based on the result of this investigation, take action to ban the marketing of, and to recall, those devices that pose similar risks of death and injury as seen with Bedside Assistant bed handles.

At issue with the portable bed railings is that they can allegedly slip out of place thereby creating a gap between the railing and the mattress. An individual can become accidentally entrapped in the space between the mattress and the railing. Injury or death can occur as a result of the victim’s trachea being compressed against the bars of the bed railing, leading to strangulation.

The letter from Public Citizen to the FTC included a picture (above) of a caregiver showing how one of her patients had become trapped in the Bedside Assistant bed railing. The victim was found dead in that position.

According to the Public Citizen website, the FTC did acknowledge receipt of the letter. As of this writing, however, while the word “safe” does not appear on the Bed Handles Inc. website in reference to the portable bed railings, there has not been a recall. (Note, the Bed Handles website does reference “safer”–but it’s as it relates to the bed handles leaving “floor space clear”).

Tags: Bed Handles, Bed Rails, Consumer Fraud, Consumer Safety, Deceptive Advertising, FTC, Portable Bed Rails, Public Citizen
Posted in Complaints/Comments, Consumer Fraud, Defective Products | No Comments »