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Article: Palo Alto, Calif., Blood-Drawing Station Mishandles Needles.
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
- Article date:
- July 23, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Jul. 23 -- Apologizing because the law prevented them from imposing an even stiffer penalty, state health officials have fined the operators of a Palo Alto blood-drawing station $102,000 for improperly supervising a worker who reused needles on patients.
SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories failed to ensure that technician Elaine Giorgi was competent and did not monitor whether patient blood specimens were being properly collected, identified and processed, state health authorities determined.
"I regret that the monetary penalty is not more severe," said Diana Bonta, state health director, citing Giorgi's ...