The bill would require hospitals and other medical facilities to use safe needle technology. The bill's sponsors say the changes make the bill much less effective. The governor added a provision asking the state health commissioner to decide whether there are procedures for which safe needles should not be used because of possible harm to patients, even though the needles are already certified safe for patients by the federal Food and Drug Administration. This could open the door to hospitals pressuring employees not to use the safe needle technology, which is slightly more expensive than conventional needles. Governor Whitman exempted drugs sold in pre-filled syringes for up to five years, to give drug companies time to get FDA approval of the new needles.
Sponsors say that's much longer than necessary.
Drug companies lobbied for the delay. The hospital industry also opposes the bill. Patients First, a coalition of health care workers' unions and consumer groups, has worked hard for the bill. As Healthwire went to press, Patients First and its legislative allies were planning their next move. Meanwhile, Kaiser Permanente HMO, responding to strong pressure from its unions, has agreed to begin using safe, retractable syringes.