It was reported to covidien on (b)(4) 2014 that a customer had an issue with a sharps container.The customer reports the sharps containers had been collected from the floor sand had been sent down to be autoclaved then disposed of as per the hospital protocol.The container was autoclaved then the worker was moving it to another area fro disposal when the needle stick occurred due to a sharps sticking out of the middle bottom part of the container.The container had been autoclaved so the employee did not go through the same medical testing as normal needle stick injury would call for, but did receive a tetanus shot.Because the customer did seek additional medical attention by means of a tetanus shot, an mdr has been filed.The purpose of the autoclave is to destroy the bio-hazardous substances in the container.As such, needles poking through the container after the extreme heat of the autoclave process are not a malfunction of the device, and do not present a risk of a contaminated needle-stick.
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