On the track of medical waste. Will a national medical waste policy wash up on the beach?

There's no question that medical waste pushes the nation's panic button. It took only two summers (1987 and 1988) of needles and syringes washing ashore to generate a groundswell of public anxiety that caused Congress to pass the Medical Waste Tracking Act of 1988. The act was the federal government's first attempt at cradle to grave waste management through a two-year pilot program involving four states and Puerto Rico. Now that the act and the pilot program have expired, Congress must evaluate their impact and decide whether to pursue a national medical waste policy. Such a policy likely would address the work practices of occupational groups, such as laundry workers, who frequently have contact with medical waste.