On May 20, 2014, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Bed Handles Inc., of Blue Springs, Missouri, announced the voluntary recall of the company’s popular adult portable bed handles. This recall affects approximately 113,000 bed handles sold in the United States. When attached to an adult’s bed without the use of safety retention straps, the handle can shift out of place creating a dangerous gap between the bed handle and the side of the mattress. This poses a serious risk of entrapment, strangulation and death. It is reported that at least three women have died after becoming entrapped between the mattress and the bed handles – two of which were elderly women that died in assisted living facilities.
These portable be handles were sold by home health care stores, drug stores and medical equipment stores nationwide and in home and health care catalogs from January 1994 through December 2007 for approximately $100. The recall involves adult portable bed handles sold by Bed Handles Inc. from 1994 through 2007 that do not have safety retention straps to secure the bed handle to the bed frame to keep the bed handle from shifting out of place and creating a dangerous gap. Recalled models include the Original Bedside Assistant® (BA10W), the Travel Handles™ (BA11W) which is sold as a set of two bed handles, and the Adjustable Bedside Assistant® (AJ1).
Consumers are urged to immediately stop using all recalled bed handles that were sold without safety retention straps. Contact Bed Handles Inc. at (800) 725-6903 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or online at http://bedhandles.com/recall.html for free safety retention straps to secure the bed handle to the bed frame, new assembly and installation instructions for models BA10W, BA11W and AJ1 and a warning label to attach to the bed handles. The bed handles should be used only with the safety retention straps securely in place attaching the bed handle to the bed frame in order to prevent a gap.
As a safety advocate and personal injury lawyer, I am continually troubled by the fact that manufacturers continue to sell products that endanger the well-being of us all. Manufacturers, in their zeal to get products on the market, often cut corners and overlook safety when designing and manufacturing products. Manufacturers have an obligation and opportunity to thoroughly assess product safety before the launch of a product. It shouldn’t take the deaths of the elderly and infirm for a manufacturer to make its products safe.
The Quinn Law Group, LLC, is a preeminent personal injury law firm with offices conveniently located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Cherry Hill, New Jersey. If you or a loved one has been injured by a dangerous product or through the fault of another, please contact the Quinn Law Group for a free, no-obligation consultation. We are Your Voice. Your Advocate.
