The best option: Legal and risk management implications of sharps in iniuries

Abstract

The principal reason that we are working in the atmosphere of heightened concern about sharps injuries is the publicity accorded to the risk of acquisition of such infections as hepatitis B and C or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Most sharps injuries occur in the hospital setting, however community acquired needle stick injuries have been reported. These are of course serious injuries but the highly emotive nature of such injuries means that the implications of a contaminated sharps injury go far beyond the purely medical. The obvious consequence of a sharps injury is the risk of infection with a blood borne disease. However, the non medical consequences of a sharps injury can also be significant and far reaching.