Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA)

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) called on federal regulators to step up oversight of bed rail regulations. The congressman spoke out in the aftermath of a tough investigation into bed rail entrapment.

In a letter to the Food & Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Markey said he would like to see a national task force formed to increase regulation of bed systems and bed rails. 

“Comprehensive oversight of these products, which sometimes blur the line between medical devices and consumer products, requires coordination among federal agencies,” Markey wrote in a Nov. 30 letter to FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D. 

“We need a national task force dedicated to addressing any regulatory gaps.”

The letter stemmed from a New York Times report that said since 1995 from bed rail entrapment. While 61% of bed rail deaths happened at home, a quarter happened in a nursing home or assisted living location, report authors noted.