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FDA wants to reduce bedrail injury and death

LTC Liability Monitor, July 5, 2006

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued guidelines to try to end entrapment in bedrails, which can lead to injury or death in nursing home residents, reported www.npr.org. The guidelines, issued in March, tell nursing homes how to make complex calculations to check that beds are properly assembled. About 350 bedrail-related deaths have been reported to the FDA since 1995. Thirty-five deaths were reported in the last year and a half. Federal officials say they believe these are just a fraction of the actual number of injuries and deaths because many nursing homes don't know that they're expected to report such injuries, one FDA official said. Others may not be reporting the incidents because they're afraid of legal liability, according to www.npr.org. Click here http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/psn/printer.cfm?id=437 to view the guidelines.

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