Bed Rails Trapping and Killing Sleeping Users Sparks Major Product Recall

Recalled Bed Assist Bar (shown with retention strap included with product) (Photo : United States Consumer Product Safety Commission)

More than 1.5 million Medline Industries portable bed rails have been recalled due to entrapment and asphyxiation risks after two deaths were reported, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced Thursday.

The CPSC and Medline Industries announced the recall of two models of Bed Assist Bar adult portable bed rails. Although the recalled model numbers MDS6800BA and MDS6800BAH are identical, model MDS6800BA was sold individually while model MDS6800BAH was sold in cases of three units.

The recalled bed rails can cause users to become trapped within the bed rail or between the bed rail and the mattress. Medline said it received two reports of entrapment deaths associated with the recalled Bed Assist Bars, in July 2019 and November 2023.

One case involved a 76-year-old woman at a senior nursing facility in Iowa and the other involved 87-year-old woman at a residential care facility in South Carolina.

Medline sold about 1.5 million of the recalled bed rails in the U.S. from July 2009 through March 2024 for between $32 and $64, and another 5,522 units were sold in Canada.

The recalled bed rails, which were manufactured in China, were sold at Medline.com and athome.medline.com, Amazon and Walmart.com, online pharmacies including CVS.com and Walgreens.com, and online medical supply stores including Cascade Healthcare Solutions and Magic Medical.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled bed rails and contact Medline for a full refund.

\--with reporting by TMX