Not Illegal to Re-Use Needles & Sutures

O

Orleander

OH JOY!!!!
Valued Senior Member
I'm horrified to learn that its not illegal here in MI to re-use needles and sutures. How do you re-use sutures anyways??
Are there just some things we assume are illegal but for some reason the gvmt figured its a common sense thing, so why bother?


Robert Stokes case prompts legislation to prohibit re-use of needles

LANSING -- The case of imprisoned East Grand Rapids dermatologist Robert Stokes has spawned a legislative effort to prohibit health care professionals from reusing needles and other single-use equipment.

Stokes, sentenced to more than 10 years in prison last year for health care financial fraud, reportedly reused syringes and sutures on patients, although a judge said evidence was sketchy about the syringe allegations.

The Kent County Health Department sent 8,500 letters to Stokes' former patients suggesting they consider being tested for blood-borne diseases.

The state House on Thursday passed a bill that would prohibit the reuse of needles and other equipment intended to be used only once. The plan, intended to curb the spread of infectious disease, now goes to the Senate.
 
How do they determine that he was using "used" sutures or syringes because he would have put them into an autoclave to heat them up to remove anything on them so if they were tested there won't be anything to find if he did so.
 
orleander just for the sake of clarity. Do you know if they are talking about the syringe or the needle? (just that your quote says needle and your saying syringe).

I surpose it really makes little difference (though there are some syringes which are reused, for instance the 50ml used to inflate a laryingil mask)
 
Orleander said:
I'm horrified to learn that its not illegal here in MI to re-use needles and sutures. How do you re-use sutures anyways??
Are there just some things we assume are illegal but for some reason the gvmt figured its a common sense thing, so why bother?
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where did you think the people of new orleans got most of their drinking water?
from a river that people been crapping in all the way to duluth.
lots of germs are killed by exposure to sunlight and oxygen, especially the bad ones.
i think people get too uptight about all this germ business.
 
If they were sterilized and properly cleaned then there is no harm and just a little bleach can kill anything, but the cost factor today is so small on a new syringe it’s just not worth the chance. What the article was saying claiming was “Health Care Financial Fraud” so it might be that the doctor was reusing these “Single use items” but charging patients for new ones during consultations, which then would be considered fraud, and would fall under “Health Care Financial Fraud”

Doctors trying to save a penny or make an extra buck will often cut corners and this is one way bad physicians do this. If a doctor eve tries to give you an injection with a hypodermic needle without it coming out of a new sealed plastic package then refuse until they open the package in front of you.

One trick is for the doctor to leave the exam room and return with a tray with the medicine and a syringe already on the tray as if presented in a surgery setting and the needle being out of the plastic package, never trust this method. Always let the doctor open the needle in front of you!
 
takandjive

i certanly wouldnt want to be the one who had to sort out the sharps container for sterilisation regardless of anything else. Not to mention that needles tend to break if you inject them multiple times (i know this for a fact because we DO reuse the practice needles at uni when injecting fruit and foam arms as long as its not changed, recaped or put down)
 
Asguard said:
takandjive

i certanly wouldnt want to be the one who had to sort out the sharps container for sterilisation regardless of anything else. Not to mention that needles tend to break if you inject them multiple times (i know this for a fact because we DO reuse the practice needles at uni when injecting fruit and foam arms as long as its not changed, recaped or put down)
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Yeppers. Same here, sports fan.
 
that left me wondering as well, especially concidering that they are ment to desolve after a certain length of time:p (well some at least)

Im ASSUMING what it means is that the left over thread (ie whats been put on the needle but not used) and the needle itself are reused rather than those which have been tied up and cut off or desolved
 
Orleander said:
They are 1 time only use syringes, so they are plastic. Can you autoclave plastic?
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Yes, longer time, lower temp and depends on the plastic.

But usually the preferred method is a solution of bleach and distilled water.
 
swarm said:
He didn't care about the stuff that was already illegal.

Docs who do care, already don't reuse.

I'm not sure this needs to be a law.
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It wasn't illegal, which is why they are making a law. They couldn't charge him with reusing the equipment, just the billing fraud
 
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