AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
Federal regulators are pressuring the fitness company Peloton to conduct a safety recall its $4,295 treadmill after a child died and dozens of others were injured using the machine, The Washington Post reported Friday.
The Peloton Tread+ went on sale earlier this year, promising to offer runners the same "private fitness studio" experience enjoyed by users of its indoor bicycle.
But according to The Post, the Consumer Product Safety Commission this week issued an administrative subpoena to Peloton asking it to provide "the name of the child who died and the family's contact information so regulators can continue an inquiry into what went wrong."
Regulators are concerned about reports of people suffering head injuries and broken bones after pulled under the machine. The commission is expected to issue a warning about the product.
Asked for a response, a spokesperson for Peloton, Jessica Kleiman, told Insider that the company was "disappointed that CPSC is mischaracterizing the situation."
"The Peleton Tread+ is safe for use at home when operated as directed and in accordance with our warnings and safety instructions," she said.
But regulators disagree. They describe the injuries reported as highly unusual.
"This doesn't happen with other treadmills," one official told The Post.
In March, Peloton CEO John Foley emailed owners of the Tread+ to inform them of a "tragic accident involving a child" and the machine, "resulting in, unthinkably, a death."
To prevent future such accidents, he recommended that adults remove the safety key after use, which would prevent the machine from operating.
"While we are aware of only a small handful of incidents involving the Tread+ where children have been hurt, each one is devastating to all of us at Peloton, and our hearts go out to the families involved," Foley said.
In one such incident posted on the safety commission's website, a three-year-old boy was said to be discovered trapped under the machine and not breathing. "He was found to have tread marks on his back matching the slats of the treadmill," the report stated. He "now has a significant brain injury."
On Peloton's website, most reviewers are pleased with their new exercise equipment. But one user described the product as "extremely dangerous," claiming the machine's belt had begun to "abruptly stop" during workouts.
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