Every Policymaker Should Know. . . In July of 1998, Registered Nurse Karen Daley drew blood from a patient in an emergency room in a Women's Hospital in Boston. When Daley attempted to dispose of the needle in the needle box, a different needle, wedged in the box, cut her finger.
Reusable needles are a growing threat to health care workers.
Almost a million health care workers are accidentally struck by needles every year. Some must agonize with medical tests for months. For others it means a death sentence. Thousands of these workers will contract serious diseases such as HIV or Hepatitis. Hundreds of people will die.