"Oughta Be A Law" Bills Pass First Hurdle

May 02, 2009 SACRAMENTO
Medical Sharps Waste – SB 486 – Betty Lipkin

Legislation aimed at creating a safe way to handle "sharps" (a type of medical waste that includes syringes and lancets) passed the Senate Environmental Quality Committee with a 7-0 vote Monday, gaining broad bipartisan support. SB 486, authored by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee for approval.

Contest winner and San Carlos resident Betty Lipkin suffers from multiple sclerosis. She, along with more than a dozen members of the National Multiple Sclerosis society attended the committee hearing, speaking in support of the bill.

"For anyone with a family member who takes insulin or other medical injections, this idea will seem long overdue," Simitian said. "We tell patients they can´t throw sharps away, but there isn´t an easy, safe solution. SB 486 is a step toward that solution and making it possible to do the right thing, and we´ll all be safer as a result."

SB 486 requires pharmaceutical manufacturers who sell medications that are routinely injected at home to submit plans to the California Integrated Waste Management Board describing how they support and provide safe needle collection and disposal programs for the patients who inject their drugs.

"There has to be a way to get rid of these containers that doesn´t cost an arm and a leg," said Lipkin. "I´ve never been able to find a way to do it, and I think it´s time we do something about it that´s ecologically sound and safe."

It is estimated that over one million people in California use syringes and other sharps for home health care.