Feds Warn Against Bed Rails, Recall 222,000 Units Linked to Suffocation Death

An example of a Medical King Bed Assist Rail, one of the adult bed rails being recalled due to a risk of death by asphyxiation. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission via AP

Federal product-safety regulators have issued an urgent warning about adult portable bed rails, saying that those devices are linked to 18 cases of suffocation deaths since 2021.

In the alert sent out on Thursday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said Medical King, based in Brooklyn, New York, is recalling about 220,000 adult portable bed rails that could potentially trap users either within the rail or between the rail and the mattress.

The recall concerns three models of Medical King Bed Assist Rail with Adjustable Heights (model numbers 7007 and 7057) and the Bed Assist Rail Without Legs (model number 7037). The affected units were sold online for about $40 on Amazon, eBay, Kohl’s, Target Plus, and Medical King’s website from January 2020 to March 2024.

The CPSC urged owners to immediately discontinue use of these products, which are manufactured in China, and to contact Medical King for a repair kit or replacement bed rail, depending on the model.

“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 medical equipment maker said in a statement.

The alert is the ninth recall of portable bed rails issued by the CPSC in the past three years, according to the agency. Alongside two product warnings, those recalls have affected more than 3 million units across 11 different companies and have been associated with incidents of serious injuries from head, neck, or chest entrapment.

In the latest incident in November 2023, a 66-year-old man at a residential care facility in South Carolina died after becoming trapped between his mattress and the Medical King bed rail.

In another large-scale recall this May, Illinois-based Medline Industries pulled 1.5 million adult bed rails from the North American market following reports of two entrapment deaths: those of a 76-year-old woman in an Iowa senior care facility in July 2019 and an 87-year-old woman in a South Carolina residential care facility in November 2023.

Often used in hospitals and home-care settings, bed rails are intended to help older or physically impaired users pull themselves up or to prevent falls. However, the CPSC warns of serious risks, including injuries from falls or entrapment and even death by asphyxiation.

“CPSC data show that 92 percent of fatalities associated with adult portable bed rails are from entrapment usually of the head or neck,” the agency said.

In the meantime, federal regulators advise that consumers follow safety tips when they buy or use adult portable bed rails, including ensuring the bed rail is compatible with the bed mattress; ensuring the bed rail is pressed firmly against the side of the mattress; ensuring that the retention device, such as strap, is properly installed and secured; not installing multiple bed rails next to each other; and carefully monitoring those who may be at risk for entrapment, such as those with cognitive impairment.