A TikToker says that her vibrator, which she purchased from Spencer’s, caused her serious medical complications that put her into the hospital.
In a TikTok posted on Feb. 26, TikToker @_alashawn2 posted a video showing herself and “the thing that almost killed” her, her vibrator. The video also shows the TikToker in the hospital.
@_alashawn2’s video has been viewed over a million times.
The TikToker said she was unable to post an explanation of the situation with her vibrator due to TikTok taking her videos down, but a follow-up TikTok was eventually posted on March 1.
In it, @_alashawn2 says that she bought a vibrator with ten settings from Spencer’s, also known as Spencer Gifts. She said that she was trying out one of the mid-to-high level settings—and then the video cuts off.
In the video’s caption. @_alashawn2 says that she will post more about the situation.
“Girl that damn toy almost cost me my life,” @_alashawn2 commented on her original video.
Although sex toys have are now being sold at mainstream retailers like Anthropologie, Sephora, and Bloomingdale’s, they are reportedly “largely unregulated” by the U.S. government.
Some “sex toys have therapeutic uses and fit the FDA’s criteria for medical devices,” according to Public Health Post. But for most sex toys, labeling them “for novelty use only” reportedly gets toy manufacturers out of the line of fire if something were to go wrong.
“Sex toys are subject to the CPSC’s [the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission] novelty regulations which do not require need extensive testing to ensure they’re safe for prolonged mucous membrane contact,” Public Health Post reports.
Most sex toy injuries are due to toys being accidentally lodged or stuck in an orifice, which could result in a trip to the hospital. However, specific cases of fatal heart attacks—from vibrators or just sex—have been reported: a woman from Gloucester, England died from “a sudden heart arrhythmia, probably brought on by her state of arousal,” as reported by U.K.’s Daily Record, and the Sun reported that a man died of an “extreme orgasm” during sex.
Needless to say, a large majority of the people who commented on @_alashawn2’s TikTok asked her the name of the vibrator she used to make sure that they weren’t putting themselves in the same danger.
The Daily Dot reached out to @_alashawn2 via Instagram direct message and Spencer’s via email.
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