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 linked to the product, federal safety regulators said.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday that users of the Medline bed assist bar can become trapped inside the bed rail or between the product and the side of a mattress.
“This poses a serious danger of entrapment and risk of death from suffocation,” the agency said in a statement. “Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled guardrails and contact Medline for a refund.”
The commission said Medline received two reports of deaths associated with Bed Assist bars. The deaths occurred in July 2019 and November 2023 and involved the entrapment of a 76-year-old woman at a 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 not received any reports of incidents or injuries in Canada, according to a statement from Health Canada. In the United States, the company received one additional report of 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 upright, the commission said.
Medline sold about 1.5 million recalled bars, costing between $32 and $64, from July 2009 to March 2024 in the United States through its websites and major online retailers, including Amazon, Walmart and CVS. The company also sold around 5,522 units in Canada.
Medline Industries, based in Northfield, Illinois, shared the recall notice on its website.
“Medline has worked closely with the CPSC throughout this process, and Medline fully supports the agency’s commitment to consumer safety,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement Thursday. “It is important that all of our affected customers participate in this product recall.”