BED HANDLES

Public Citizen, a non-profit public interest organization, has filed a complaint with the Food and Drug administration requesting that the agency ban the marketing of bed handles by Bed Handles Inc. contending that their bed handles (aka bed rail devices) cause life threating injuries or death due to entrapment and strangulation or suffocation. These bed handles are for home use and should not be confused with the bed handles used in hospitals. These bed handles create a gap between the bed handles and the mattress. The patient can slip into this gap becoming trapped.

Public Citizen has requested that the FDA investigate if this problem occurs in bed handles manufactured by different firms. According to Public Citizen the FDA has reviewed 5 cases of entrapment since 1999 of people trapped by Bedside Assistant. 4 of those cases resulted in death and one case involved a life-threatening incident. Similar bed handles are made by other companies.

If you are aware of a person injured or killed by bed handles, you should notify the FDA and advise the injured person or the family members to contact their family lawyer. Prompt attention to investigation of such accidents is the key to success.

Ben A. Goff, Attorney

Mitchell, Goff & Mitchell LLP

(disclosure of interest. Ben A. Goff is an attorney representing parties involved in personal injury accidents including products liability cases)