Injection Safety also Means Patient Safety

Many people think “healthcare worker” when they think of injection safety, yet there is another group affected by unsafe injection practices—patients.

In over 45 outbreaks during the last twelve years, patients have been the victims of syringe re-use. I was infected with hepatitis C through bloodborne transmission ten years ago. The reason? Syringes were reused and a saline bag was misused. Ninety-eight other Nebraskans were also infected—patients who were gravely ill and waging the battle of their lives against cancer. And this is not an isolated incident. Over 150,000 Americans have been notified during the last decade that they have been put at risk for infection while receiving medical treatment.

My situation motivated me to form the HONOReform Foundation . My research led me to discover inadequate level of protection for patients caused by widespread failure of health care providers to follow fundamental, basic injection safety practices. Astonishingly, this failure, particularly in outpatient clinics and ambulatory surgery centers throughout the United States, continues. Through my work at HONOReform, I hope to save the lives of countless others by fighting to improve America's injection safety practices.

I firmly believe we all have the ability to make a difference. I welcome you to join me in my efforts - testifying and working with federal and state lawmakers on legislation to protect patients, helping public health officials to respond to outbreaks, and providing inspirational and motivational compassion and support to people across the country who have been affected by unsafe injection practices.

I also support the One and Only Campaign, a public health campaign led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Safe Injection Practices Coalition (SIPC), to raise awareness among patients and healthcare providers about safe injection practices, especially syringe re-use.

SAFE IN COMMON provides a central place where all these groups can come together – there is strength in numbers! I encourage you all to learn more about these groups and contribute however you can.