Needlestick-prevention devices

In the Introduction to our October 1999 Evaluation of needlestick-prevention devices (NPDs), we discussed how changes in the U.S. regulatory landscape were beginning to compel many healthcare facilities to switch from conventional needle-using devices to protective alternatives, such as NPDs. Our discussion focused on recent legislation introduced at the state and federal levels. Less than a month after we published that article, the pace of change increased dramatically. Most notably, two U.S. agencies--the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)--issued recommendations stressing the importance of using NPDs, and several additional states began considering NPD legislation. In this Update, we discuss the changes that have occurred since our October 1999 article. Also in this Update, we describe recent changes to our NPD ratings rationale and provide revised ratings for three previously evaluated NPDs. We discovered the need for these changes while compiling information for our new Special Report, the Health Devices Needlestick-Prevention Device Selection Guide. (This Special Report, which incorporates information from our three most recent NPD studies, is described on page 80.) We believe that, with these changes, our ratings more clearly convey the technical merits of each product.