[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 123 (Thursday, October 5, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1686]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE NEEDLESTICK SAFETY AND PREVENTION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 3, 2000

  Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, we are here today because needlestick 
related health problems are costly and preventable. H.R. 5178, the 
Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, will protect our Nation's health 
care providers from unnecessary health risks.
  Each year, between 600,000 and 800,000 health care workers are 
accidentally stuck by needles. As a result, over 1,000 of these injured 
workers go on to contract HIV, hepatitis B, or hepatitis C, and over 
100 eventually die from their illness. Even those who are fortunate 
enough not to be infected by one of these diseases must suffer through 
6 months of waiting before they and their families know that they are 
healthy.
  This suffering can be avoided. Studies have shown that over 80 
percent of needlestick injuries are avoidable. Passage of the 
Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act will require a strong national 
standard to prevent needlestick injuries, and will empower OSHA to 
increase the usage of safer needles.
  These changes will reduce not only the suffering of injured providers 
and their families, but also the costs that hospitals must absorb each 
time a needlestick occurs. The post-exposure treatments that every 
injured worker have cost up to $3,000. My home State of California was 
the first State to pass this legislation, and estimates are that we 
will save over $100 million each year as a result.
  Unfortunately, this legislation will be too late for many health care 
providers. Peggy Ferro, a health care worker in my district in San 
Francisco, was the first health care provider to pass away from AIDS as 
a result of a needlestick. She died at the young age of 49, while still 
fighting for passage of the legislation that we are debating today.
  Although this legislation has not been passed soon enough to help 
Peggy, we can honor her memory by ensuring that safer needle technology 
is used in health facilities. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on 
H.R. 5178.