STARK CALLS ON IOM TO INCLUDE REDUCING HEALTH CARE
WORKER INJURIES – SUCH AS NEEDLESTICKS –
IN THE EFFORT TO REDUCE MEDICAL ERRORS

Below, please find a letter sent by Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), Ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, to the Institute of Medicine. The letter calls on IOM to further expand upon the unacceptable incidence of needlestick injuries to health care workers as the Institute continues its efforts to reduce medical errors in our health care system.

January 5, 2000


Kenneth I. Shine, MD
President
Institute of Medicine
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20418

Dear Dr. Shine:

Since the release of the Institute of Medicine report, "To Err is Human, Building a Safer Health System," there is finally an important focus on the problems of medical errors in our health system. I commend you for this report and for presenting the data in such a way that the need for action to reduce such medical errors is clear. However, there is an important reference in the report which I fear has been missed by many because it is not a direct focus of the study.

The reference is that patient safety is linked to worker safety. Specifically, the report states that:

If workers are safer in their jobs, patients will be safer also. Sometimes, the actions needed to improve patient safety are the ones that would also improve worker safety. Procedures for avoiding needlesticks or limiting long work hours are aimed at protecting workers but can also protect patients.

This reference is very important. In fact, worker safety is a vital issue in our health care system and it directly impacts patient care. There are some 800,000 health care workers who are injured by needlesticks each year. These injuries can lead to life threatening diseases such as AIDS and Hepatitis B and C. In addition to the real threat to worker health, these injuries are costly to the health system. A study by the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimates that the costs of treating a worker who has sustained a needlestick ranges from $2200 to $3800 per worker. Those are not inconsequential costs and they don’t even take into account the liability cost impact or the very real emotional stress suffered by a worker and his or her colleagues when such an injury occurs.

There is no need for these high levels of workplace injuries. The technology exists to protect health care workers from the majority of accidental needlesticks through needleless systems and engineered safety controls. Several states have passed legislation to require the use of these safer devices and I have introduced legislation in Congress (HR 1899) to require their use across the country.

I would encourage the Institute of Medicine to add efforts to reduce workplace needlestick injuries into the discussion of solutions to the unacceptable level of medical errors in our country. Clearly, becoming infected with AIDS due to a workplace injury is one of the most egregious medical errors that can occur.

Sincerely,



Pete Stark
Member of Congress

FHS/dc

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