The Broward Sherrfif's Office has officially ruled the strangulation of a Jackson Memorial radiologist an accident.
Dr. Michelle Ferrari-Gegerson's husband found her lifeless body next to a neck massager on Christmas Eve, but there is no longer any mystery about her bizarre death.
"The cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation," said BSO spokesman Jim Leljedal on Wednesday. "No suspicion of foul play...an accident."
Leljedal confirmed that Ferrari-Gegerson died when she laid down to use the now-recalled ShoulderFlex Massager and a necklace was caught in its rotating parts.
"The device grabbed the choker and pulled it tight and cut off her carotid artery. That caused her to pass out in a matter of seconds, and once she passed out she stopped breathing and died."
Within two weeks of her death, BSO contacted the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which began an investigation that led to last week's recall of the ShoulderFlex, Leljedal said.
The FDA issued a warning saying that risk of injury with the ShoulderFlex was so considerable, those who own the device are encouraged to actually take it apart before throwing it away to ensure it can not be reassembled.
