Deltec Signs Contract With Premier to Supply Safety Huber Needles

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Deltec, Inc. announced today that it has signed a 34-month contract with Premier, Inc., to supply its nationwide alliance of nearly 1,500 hospital facilities and healthcare sites with the GRIPPER PLUS Safety Needle.

Based on the design of the familiar GRIPPER huber needle and introduced by Deltec in 2002, the GRIPPER PLUS Safety Needle is used to deliver medications, fluids, blood products and blood intravenously through a patient's implanted port. It was designed to offer protection from rebound needlesticks and features a unique safety arm that locks the needle into a protected position when de-accessing it from an implanted port.

"New laws and escalating post-exposure treatment costs have made needlestick prevention a top safety priority for the healthcare industry," said James Stitt, president of Deltec. "We sought input from clinicians throughout the United States when designing the safety features of the new GRIPPER PLUS Safety Needle, drawing upon 15 years of expertise with our familiar GRIPPER needles -- highly recognized as the 'gold standard' in huber needles among the healthcare community."

The exclusive design of the GRIPPER PLUS Safety Needle allows users to de-access and lock the needle safely into place in one easy, natural motion, keeping their hands behind the needle at all times. The simple three-step process can be learned with minimal time commitment through various on-line, self-study and/or in-service training options and requires minimal change to current de-accessing techniques.

Designed specifically to protect healthcare workers from the risk of rebound needlesticks, the GRIPPER PLUS Safety Needle meets all NIOSH, OSHA and CDC criteria for needlestick safety. "The Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act of 2001 and new OSHA mandates have had a demonstrable impact on the adoption and use of safety devices in healthcare settings across the U.S. and worldwide," Stitt said.

"Large healthcare and hospital alliances like Premier are committed to the highest standards of worker safety for their member institutions and only contract with companies like Deltec who can help them maintain those high standards with products like the GRIPPER PLUS Safety Needle."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 384,000 percutaneous injuries occur annually in hospitals. Estimates for post-exposure treatment costs for these injured workers range from $192 to $960 million annually.

In a November 2000 report to Congress, the GAO estimated that about 75 percent of all needlesticks are preventable, and 29 percent (69,000) of those could be prevented in one year by using needles with safety features. According to the GAO, this would result in annual savings of between $37 million and $173 million in post-exposure treatment costs for injured healthcare workers.

The GRIPPER PLUS Safety Needle is available in a variety of lengths and gauges to accommodate a broad array of therapy and patient needs. It provides comfort comparable to conventional devices, is compatible with standard IV tubing connectors and can be easily disposed of in sharps containers of all sizes.

Deltec is a world leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of medical devices used in ambulatory infusion therapy, including ambulatory infusion pumps, large volume infusion pumps, implantable access systems, dialysis and infusion catheters, needles and insulin delivery systems.

Source: Deltec, Inc.