Harry Reid: “on October 17, 1997, 28-year-old Lisa Black, a registered nurse from Reno, Nevada, was nursing a man in the terminal…”

“on October 17, 1997, 28-year-old Lisa Black, a registered nurse from Reno, Nevada, was nursing a man in the terminal stages of AIDS when a needle containing his blood punctured her skin. Today, Lisa Black is infected with Hepatitis C and HIV. She must take 22 pills a day to keep her HIV infection from progressing to full-blown AIDS and to delay the effects of Hepatitis C. Karen Daley, a nurse for over 20 years and President of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, sustained a needlestick injury when she reached her gloved hand into a needle box to dispose of the needle with which she had drawn blood. Karen Daley did everything in her power and took all the necessary precautions--including wearing gloves and following proper procedures-- to reduce her risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens. Her injury did not occur because she was careless or distracted or not paying attention to what she was doing. Karen Daley has good reason to believe that had a safer needle and disposal system been in place at her hospital, she would not be sick today. According to the CDC, eighty percent of all needlestick injuries can be prevented through the use of safer needles. I am pleased that today we are passing bipartisan legislation--the Needlestick Worker Safety and Prevention Act--that will help reduce the incidence of needlestick injuries and illnesses, like those sustained by Karen Daley and Lisa Black.”