Feds recall 113,000 bed handles after deaths

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is recalling about 113,000 adult portable bed handles, after reports of three women who were killed when these products malfunctioned.

“The bed handles are intended to assist adults with getting in and out of bed by giving them a bar to grip,” the CPSC said in a statement

{mosads}But the handles inadvertently suffocated two women elderly women and another woman who was disabled. While they were sleeping, the women rolled over and became trapped in a gap between the bed handles and the mattress. 

The manufacturer Bed Handles Inc., based in Blue Springs, Mo., agreed to the voluntary recall. The company will provide safety retention straps for free to customers who ask for them.

The CPSC warned all customers to stop using these products unless they have the safety retention straps to close the gap and help prevent them from becoming entrapped in these devices.

“This poses a serious risk of entrapment, strangulation and death,” the agency wrote.

Bed Handles manufactured the product from 1994 through 2007. During that time, they were often sold in healthcare stores, drug stores, and medical equipment stores, as well as in catalogs, for about $100.