I work as an assistant in a pediatric office (New York State). About two weeks ago, I was cleaning a room and was stuck by a dirty needle that my employer had left out. He had used it on a two-year old to vaccinate.

My question is whether my employer is required to test the blood of the source patient. For some reason I assumed that they only had to test my blood, but I have been told that they are supposed to ask the patient to get tested as well. When i asked the office manager about it, she told me that it "wasn't necessary" to test this patient, as she is so young, was "probably" tested at birth, and has no known medical conditions. I have a feeling they don't want to bother with the cost. Even though this is a low-risk situation, shouldn't they test the patient anyway?

Thank you guys in advance for your help!

It's been coming up on four years since I worked in an industry where I had to be up on these regulations so I could be mistaken (bears?) but if I recall correctly they cannot force the patient to be tested. It's not entirely within their control.

Cbg is correct, they cannot force the patient to test.

You SHOULD file this as a Worker's Comp claim, and have their WC insurance pay in full for the testing.