[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 57 (Friday, May 8, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S4560]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REID:
  S. 2056. A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act and 
title 38, United States Code, to require hospitals to use only hollow-
bore needle devices that minimize the risk of needlestick injury to 
health care workers; to the Committee on Finance.


             the health care worker protection act of 1998

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Health Care 
Worker Protection Act of 1998. This legislation would reduce the number 
of health care workers who are accidentally exposed to potentially 
contaminated, infectious blood via a needle stick injury.
  The Health Care Worker Protection Act of 1998 would make the use of 
safe needle devices, as determined by the Food and Drug Administration 
(FDA), a condition of participation for Medicare. The bill would call 
for the FDA to create an Advisory Council to establish safety standards 
for hollow bore devices. The Advisory Council would be composed of 
consumers, health care providers and technical experts. Finally, the 
Department of Health and Human Services would be authorized $5 million 
to establish education and training programs for the use of the safe 
devices identified by the FDA.
  Approximately eighty percent of all reported occupational exposures 
result from needle stick injuries, making this the most common cause of 
health care worker-related exposure to blood borne pathogens. More than 
twenty pathogens can be transmitted through small amounts of blood 
including HIV, syphilis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, varicella-
zoster, malaria, Hepatitis B and C, along with other forms of 
hepatitis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
American health care workers report more than 800,000 needle sticks and 
sharps injuries each year.
  The Health Worker Protection Act of 1998 is designed to reduce the 
risks to health care workers from these accidents. This legislation 
will ensure that the necessary tools--better information and better 
medical devices--are made available to front-line health care workers 
in order to reduce the injury and death that have resulted from needle 
sticks.

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