Clients may have received used needles, Sudbury, Ont., harm reduction group says
Anyone who received a single-use needle from Réseau ACCESS Network in Sudbury in the last several months is at risk of serious infection, the group announced Thursday.
In a news release, Réseau said at risk are about 40 people who received an individual single-use needle from in-reach services at 111 Larch St. unit 101 between July 1, 2022, and January 13, 2023.
“The agency, which distributes harm reduction supplies to people who use drugs, discovered the risk of exposure when a staff member found new and used equipment in a labelled clear container of individual single-use needles in the harm reduction room,” the news release said.
“The risk of potential exposure is limited to people who requested an individual needle. There is no risk to people who accessed full packages or other supplies.”
Heidi Eisenhauer, Réseau’s executive director, said those at risk have been told they were “potentially been exposed hepatitis C virus, hepatitis B virus, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and to encourage testing and offer support to anyone who may need it.”
Réseau has offered testing to all people concerned, provided guidance to minimize risks of transmitting an infection to others while people wait for their results, and offered to help with connecting people to treatment options should they test positive for any of the three infections.
“Member safety and well-being is our top priority,” Eisenhauer said in the release.
“The practice of distributing individual needles has been discontinued until the agency can obtain individually packaged needles.”
In addition, Réseau, in collaboration with Public Health Sudbury & District, said it will be conducting a thorough investigation.
“Réseau ACCESS Network has reviewed best practices with all staff members,” the release said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.