Report: Health Ministry claims safe to recycle disposable medical devices

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 — Disposable medical devices can be safely used up to three times, the Health Ministry said in response to the reported practice among some government hospitals due to budget constraints.

News portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT) quoted Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah as saying at an event here yesterday that single-use devices could also be reused, such as Ligasure, which is an electrothermal bipolar tissue sealing system, and Diathermy, electrically induced heat used as a form of physical or occupational therapy.

“Disposable items can be used for a second and third time. We do use that (method),” Dr Noor Hisham reportedly said.

FMT earlier reported an unnamed source as saying that some public hospitals were recycling single-use equipment used in neurosurgery, cardiology, and general surgeries due to budget constraints, amid a shift in patients from the private to public sector.

The University of Nottingham reportedly said recycling single-use medical devices could cause cross-infection of blood-borne diseases and reuse could lead to device malfunction and breakage.

Dr Noor Hisham reportedly denied that reusing single-use medical devices could cause health complications.

He also reportedly said reusing such equipment would not be unsanitary as it would be cleaned through steam sterilisation and the practice would not involve patients with infectious diseases.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, who was also at the event, reportedly agreed with Dr Noor Hisham and said hospitals followed manufacturers’ protocol.

“If the manufacturers say it is for one use only, then we will dispose it after one use. A lot of manufacturers say that although it is said to be a single-use device, it can be used more than once,” Dr Subramaniam was quoted saying.

Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr Ravindran R. Naidu told Malay Mail Online last August that the association was informed by doctors working at public hospitals that certain disposable items used for procedures were being recycled.

Health deputy director-general Datuk Dr S. Jeyaindran, however, had denied MMA’s claim and told Malay Mail Online then: “The only thing that’s being reused is artificial kidneys, and even that we’ve stopped now.”