Peter W. Summerill

Utah Trial Attorney

Inversion Table Danger Alert

Inversion Tables Pose Significant Risk of Death and Paralysis


Sold as therapeutic devices, inversion tables present significant and serious risks of death or permanent paralysis. These machines often bring little in the way of documented relief and, unfortunately, can abruptly and without warning fail while the user is inverted. The sudden drop from an upside down position is the perfect position to cause spinal cord injury resulting in permanent paralysis including both quadriplegia and paraplegia. These same mechanisms of injury can also lead to death. The Consumer Products Safety Commission has multiple reports of failures on inversion tables, many involving a product defect in the ankle locking mechanism. While inverted, the mechanism can release suddenly, and the user suffers a catastrophic and life altering injury. Peter Summerill has worked on inversion table cases. Any claimed benefit or promise of relief simply is not worth the risk associated with using inversion tables.

The risk of the injury, including the extent of that injury, when one of these inversion tables fails, greatly exceeds any of the claimed (and often unproven) health benefits.



The inversion tables are sold both online and through retail sporting goods and other retail outlets such as Costco. "Any user who suffers injury due to a sudden release should certainly seek a lawyer qualified to handle product liability cases involving catastrophic injury."