A Rhode Island doctor was reprimanded after a toddler pricked his finger on a needle in the doctor’s office.
The needle was in a “sharps” container, but health officials found Dr. Leena Davis had failed to properly secure it, resulting in an injury to the child. It was further found that she failed to follow proper protocol for testing after the needle-stick.
The reprimand notice states the needle-stick drew blood from the child’s finger.
It also states the “sharps” container had a lid with an opening in it, which allowed access to the needles inside.
The document claims Davis did not then advise the parent to have blood testing done on the child for HIV, hepatitis B, or hepatitis C but did prescribe such testing after the parent requested it.
Reached by phone Thursday, Davis told NBC 10 News, “I feel really bad about it” and that she apologized to the parents.
Davis said she was examining another child with a parent in the room and they didn’t notice what the toddler was doing.
Referring to the contents of the “sharps” container, Davis told NBC 10, “We never thought anybody would reach them.”
But, according to the reprimand document, Davis admitted to investigators that the “sharps” container was on the floor, behind an exam table used for pediatric exams.
An inspection of the office found an unsecured “sharps” container on top of a file cabinet in a separate exam room, according to the Department of Health document.
Davis, who has been a licensed doctor in Rhode Island for 27 years, must pay a $1,100 administrative fee, complete a course on infectious disease, and implement an office policy for the safe disposal of medical waste in exam rooms.