Safer Needles
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"It's too late for these devices to save my life now. Please don't wait for the list of others to grow and grow before effective action is taken."
--Peggy Ferro, San Francisco health care worker infected with HIV from a needlestick, in testimony to Congress on February 2, 1992. Six years later, when Peggy died of AIDS at 49, she was still working to pass a federal safer needles law in Congress.
Peggy Ferro and thousands of SEIU Nurse Alliance members fought for years to win federal and state safer needle laws that require health care employers to take precautions to protect health workers from bloodborne diseases.
In 2000, our efforts led the way to passage of the federal Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, and we're slowly but surely passing legislation in the states. Twenty-four states now have safer needle laws on the books, starting with California in 1998 whose law required all health care facilities to purchase safer needles by July 1999.
But our fight is not over. Nurse Alliance members are focusing their efforts on making sure the laws are enforced, providing information about the best devices, and working to remove unsafe sharps from the market.
Take a look at the dangers our health care workers continue to face, despite the existence of safer needle laws, safer needle devices, and the high financial costs of not using safe needles:
Many health care workers put their lives on the line every time they use a needle.
Each year, 600,000 to 1 million workers are accidentally stuck by needles--nearly three thousand daily. More than 1,000 contract serious bloodborne diseases, such as HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C. If stuck by a contaminated needle, workers must live through a terrifying six months or longer to find out they're infected.
Safer needles that prevent more than 80 percent of needlestick injuries exist, but only 15 percent of hospitals use them.
Although the federal Food and Drug Administration has approved more than 250 needles with such features as protective shields or mechanisms that automatically retract the needle after use, only 15 percent of hospitals use them.
Of that small percentage attempting to comply with state and federal safer needle requirements, some are cutting corners with inferior "safer" needles and other dangerous practices.
Worst of all, most hospitals aren't even evaluating safer needles, and regulatory agencies aren't requiring their use.
In addition to lives, safer needles save money for health care facilities.
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Even where no infection occurs, it costs up to $3,000 to treat an injured health care worker with prophylactic drugs when they've had a high-risk exposure.
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One case of HIV can cost $100,000, and one case of hepatitis C--involving a liver transplant--can cost as much as $750,000. (Hepatitis C is the leading cause of liver transplants.)
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California, the first state to pass safer needle legislation in 1998, estimates it will save more than $100 million a year by using safer needles.
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As more health care facilities use safer needles, manufacturers will be able to reduce the price due to increased production volume.
Check out more of our safer needle resources:
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Preventing Needlestick Injuries -- SEIU's Guide to Preventing Needlestick Injuries helps educate healthcare workers about the deadly risk they face from the use of dangerous needles. The guide also helps workers collect injury data, participate in product evaluation committees, work with hospital administrators, and more.
For a single copy, send a $5 check payable to SEIU to SEIU's Fulfillment Center at 1313 L St., NW, Washington, DC 20005, and please indicate the book title. For bulk orders, call SEIU's Zahrah Smith at 202-898-3200.
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Government Hepatitis Report Flawed -- A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on prevention strategies for reducing hepatitis doesn't mention safer needles once.
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Job Safety and Health -- View links to some of the best health and safety regulation information online.
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