Medline Industries, a medical supply company, is recalling about 1.5 million portable adult bed rails in the United States and Canada after two reported deaths involving the product, federal safety regulators said.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Thursday that users of the Medline Bed Assist Bar can become entrapped within the bed rail or between the product and the side of a mattress.
“This poses a serious entrapment hazard and risk of death by asphyxiation,” the agency said in a statement. “Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled bed rails and contact Medline for a refund.”
The commission said that Medline received two reports of deaths associated with the Bed Assist Bars. The deaths took place in July 2019 and November 2023 and involved the entrapment of a 76-year-old woman at a senior nursing facility in Iowa and an 87-year-old woman at a residential care facility in South Carolina, according to the agency.
The company has received no reports of incidents or injuries in Canada, according to a statement by Health Canada. In the United States, the company received one additional report of an injury, the Canadian government said.
The recalled bed rails, which were manufactured in China, involve two models, identified by the numbers MDS6800BA and MDS6800BAH. The name “Medline” and the model number can be found on a label on the support frame of the bed rail near its vertical portion, the commission said.
Medline sold about 1.5 million recalled bars, which cost between $32 and $64, from July 2009 through March 2024 in the United States through its websites and major online retailers including Amazon, Walmart and CVS. The company also sold about 5,522 units in Canada.
Medline Industries, which is based in Northfield, Ill., shared the recall notice on its website.
“Medline has worked closely with the C.P.S.C. throughout this process, and Medline fully supports the agency’s commitment to consumer safety,” a spokeswoman for the company said in a statement on Thursday. “It is important for all our impacted customers to participate in this product recall.”