Historical 1975 article. Contains obsolete handling instructions; not current medical guidance.
Recently, while walking across the lot at Kingsbury and Des Peres on my way to work at the Clinic, I found something that almost got the entire Clinic staff chewed out; then I thought I should chew out the entire NEIGHBORHOOD, and finally I decided maybe a plea and an explanation to our neighbors was in order.
What I found was a disposable syringe, with needle still attached. On inspection, I found it was a type of syringe we don’t stock—an insulin syringe—so the Clinic staff was cleared of breaking our rules about the disposal of syringes.
After plain and fancy fussing about the foolishness, it dawned on me that with the advent of disposable syringes for home use, people are simply not taught how or why they are simply NOT disposable simply by throwing them in the trash. In fact, it isn’t simple at all!
First of all, a used syringe is contaminated—it has germs on, in, and about it. If it is used by someone else without being sterilized—and the disposable ones can’t be resterilized — there is a good chance of infection.
Second, a syringe is a prescription item — a doctor’s order is needed to buy one. This puts them out of easy reach of addicts, so syringes become extra valuable to them, and there is a big street market for them. Finding an intact syringe is like finding money, and little care is given to sterility. Hence the frequency of hepatitis among addicts: the disease is commonly passed on by contaminated syringes and needles.
Those are two points in the explanation part: why disposable syringes and needles should be properly disposed of. The plea part is that such items be disposed of properly, so I will tell you how that is done:1 With most disposables, there is a sheath that covers the needle to keep it sterile before use. Put the sheath back over the needle, and BREAK THE NEEDLE OFF, using the sheath to protect the fingers from an accidental stick. 2 Syringes consist of a barrel and a plunger. PULL THEM APART. 3 Most of the boxes in which syringes are packed are designed with a hole on top and labels that say “used syringes” or some such. But it is a good idea to dispose of the plungers separately, at least, from the barrels.
A person who has a medical condition requiring medicines given by syringe has every right to use those medicines, and the community should see that they are availabe in a safe and secure manner —which is done by government inspections and regulations concerning sterility, by prescription requirements, and so forth. On the other hand, the community has a right to know that the person who uses such equipment does so in a manner that protects the rest of the community from harm.
Originally published in The Paper, September 1975.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1975_09.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.
