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Over 110,000 portable adult bed handles were recently recalled after at least three elderly women died from suffocating between the bed handles and mattress. The bed handles are frequently used in assisted living facilities to help residents get in and out of bed. Nursing home negligence lawyers at Pintas & Mullins look into this issue more carefully and highlight a few ways to keep elderly loved ones safe.
Bed Handles Inc. is recalling all the adult portable rails that it sold from prior to 2007. Specifically, the company is recalling models BA10W, BA11W and AJ1. All three deaths caused by these handles occurred in assisted living or adult family homes, similar somewhat to nursing homes though with less supervision and nursing care. Two of the women were living in Washington State, and the third was residing in Minnesota.
The handles were sold by home health care stores, medical equipment stores and even drug stores throughout the U.S. from 1994 to 2007. They are L-shaped steel bed handles and can be up to 20 inches tall.
The handles are so dangerous because they can shift away from the mattress, creating a gap that disabled or elderly patients can fall in to and potentially strangle or become trapped. Any facility or private home with these bed handles are urged to stop using them immediately.
Bed handles should only be used when a safety retention strap is also in place, to hold the handle to the bed frame. These straps are about three-feet long and slip under the mattress. In a statement, Bed Handles Inc. said it will be sending customers these safety retention straps along with instructions on how to correctly install them.
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Of all the dangerous aspects of a nursing home, beds and bed handles are likely low on the list of threats for families to consider. We have seen many cases of residents seriously injured by unsafe beds, however. In a recent lawsuit in Illinois, a man in his mid-50s was residing in a nursing home, where his bed was installed with side rails.
After an assessment, the nursing home staff decided to remove the side rails, however staff only removed the horizontal rails, leaving some posts in place. One night, the man tried to get out of his bed, lost his balance and fell backward. One of the posts negligently left in place pierced his rectum, tearing it, which required surgery.
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His family filed a lawsuit against the nursing home for failing to properly remove the bed rails, and during interviews employees stated that the only reason they left the remaining posts on the bed was for convenience. Staff agreed that the posts posed an unnecessary hazard to the resident, and the man ultimately received about $125,000 for his injury.
It is now
widely asserted that bed rails and handles can cause serious injury and even death in nursing homes, however the risk is still little-known among families. Patients who are particularly frail, or those with Alzheimer’s or dementia, are particularly at risk. The good news, is that injuries from bed rails are largely preventable.
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The FDA recently issued guidelines to help stop bedrail entrapment. The guidelines inform nursing homes how to determine if the beds are properly assembled and safe. Problems can be caused by bed parts that are all made by different companies, however experts assert that when beds are put together correctly, there is almost never a problem.
Our team of nursing home negligence lawyers has been working with injured residents and their families for over 30 years. If you or someone you love was seriously injured in a nursing home, contact an Alabama nursing home abuse lawyer for a free, no-obligation, confidential legal consultation. You do not pay anything unless we get you a settlement or verdict. Our nursing home abuse attorneys at Pintas & Mullins can investigate and manage nursing home neglect and abuse cases across the country in all states and we put our decades of experience at your service, so you get the justice and damages you deserve.
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