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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO UCSD
BERKELEY • DAVIS • IRVINE • LOS ANGELES • MERCED • RIVERSIDE • SAN DIEGO • SAN
FRANCISCO SANTA BARBARA •
SANTA CRUZ
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE
3350 LA JOLLA VILLAGE DRIVE (11G)
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA92161
The Honorable Richard Pan
Chairman, Assembly Committee on Health
State Capitol, Room 6005
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 95249-0009
RE: AB 1893 Oppose
Dear Chairman Pan:
I am the founder and director of a large not for profit organization called Taking
Control Of Your Diabetes (www.tcoyd.org) dedicated to educating and motivating
people with diabetes and their loved ones to live long and healthy lives with
diabetes. We promote our mission by putting on large educational events around
the country including Sacramento. I am an endocrinologist at UCSD and Veterans
Affairs Medical Center as well as a person diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1970
at the age of 15.
I want to send you a brief but strong message about AB 1893. The bill as written is
very inappropriate, misguided and being pushed by people with secondary gain.
Although there is no good data about people with diabetes using needles for insulin
injections and how they dispose of them, I can tell you the vast majority of people with
diabetes my not for profit and medical practice comes into contact with know about
proper needle disposal using sharps containers and hard plastic jars such as empty
vitamin containers and bleach bottles. In San Diego alone there are many locations
set up around the county for disposal of these containers.

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There is absolutely no justification for a patient mandate to purchase a sharps
container each time a needle, syringe or lancet purchase occurs in California. The
availability of free and inexpensive sharps disposal tools along with education is
what is needed. If passed in its present form AB 1893 would cause havoc and
hardship for all involved except for the people and companies who stand to achieve
financial gain.
I urge you to closely look at the issue of needle disposal carefully in order to devise a
fair and balanced plan. Via the Taking Control Of Your Diabetes program and other
events, I and my team are happy to continue our work disseminating educational
messages about all forms of diabetes care including proper sharps disposal to the
thousands of people with diabetes we contact every year.
Sincerely,
Steven Edelman MD
Professor of Medicine
University of California San Diego
Veterans Affairs Medical Center
3350 La Jolla Village Drive (111G)
San Diego California 92161
Office: (858) 552-8585
Fax: (858) 642-6242