After assessing a medical device safety alert issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on a personal massager with the brand name "ShoulderFlex" distributed in the US by a company called King International, the Department of Health (DH) urges the local community to stop using it because of its association with strangulation or other severe injuries.
A DH spokesman remarks that the ShoulderFlex massager is designed for home use to provide deep tissue massage to the neck, shoulder and back while the user lies on a flat surface.
"Through the Department's medical device surveillance scheme, we learnt that there were a few reports of either death or near-strangulation associated with ShoulderFlex massager in the US. According to the information available, the incidents were likely to occur when hair, clothing or jewelry became caught in the device, especially those pieces which rotated during use," the spokesman explains.
The spokesman states that the Department is very concerned as the health risks could be serious even if not fatal.
"Thus, in spite of the facts that the devices were mainly sold at stores or online in the US and not known to be on sale here in Hong Kong, nor has DH received any related notification, given the amount of travelling between the two places and also the popularity of internet trading, we consider it necessary to inform our public of the news and also advise for immediate suspension for the occasional owners," the spokesman deliberates.
Finally, the spokesman adds that to be prudent, disposal of the device by owners should be in pieces so as to avoid use after reassembling.
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