RedHawk Increases Business Focus on
Needle Incineration
Lafayette, Louisiana -- April 30, 2019 --
InvestorsHub NewsWire -- RedHawk Holdings
Corp. (OTC:
IDNG) (“RedHawk” or
the “Company”) announced today that it is increasing its business
focus on the development and sale of its line of Sharps and Needle
Disintegration Devices (“SANDD™”)
designed for the safe and environmentally friendly incineration and
disposal of hypodermic needles. RedHawk offers two
SANDD™ medical devices – SANDD™ mini
and the SANDD™
Pro.
In
late 2015, RedHawk Medical Products & Services, LLC, the
Company’s wholly-owned medical device subsidiary, acquired all of
the tangible and intangible property rights for its SANDD mini™
(formerly known as The Disintegrator™ Insulin Needle Destruction
Unit), a needle destruction device approved by the United States
Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for home use. The acquired
assets included, but was not be limited to, all matters subject to
the SANDD™ original
patent applications, including technical designs, drawings,
trademarks, tradenames, FDA documents, clinical test data, and all
manufacturing tooling and fixtures.
The
SANDD™ mini
(www.needledestructiondevice.com)
is a portable, battery operated, insulin-needle incineration device
originally designed for use in a home setting primarily by
diabetics. RedHawk re-engineered the SANDD mini™
technology in 2017 to permit use of the SANDD mini™
in clinical settings by allergists, dermatologists, cosmetologists,
plastic surgeons and other medical specialties without the need for
sharps containers for needle disposal. Following its use,
the SANDD™ mini
is approved for disposal of the remaining syringes in the household
trash or without the need for sharps containers. The
SANDD mini™ is recognized as a safe and
environmentally friendly method of disposing needles following
their use. The SANDD mini™
is approved by the FDA as an effective alternative to hazardous
waste needle disposal utilizing high-priced sharps containers.
The SANDD™ mini
is recognized by the California’s Department of Resources and
Recycling as the only FDA approved needle incineration device approved
for self-injectors at home in the State of
California.
The
SANDD™ mini meets all
OSHA workplace safety guidelines for needle disposal and is
intended for the incineration and environmentally friendly disposal
of 27-32 gauge hypodermic needles that are 5/16 to ½ inch in
length. It can incinerate most insulin pen needles and can accept
disposable insulin syringes ranging in volumes from 1/3 to 3 cubic
centimeters.
After successfully completing market testing of the
SANDD mini™ in 2018 and
working in conjunction with the Louisiana State University
Innovation Park, RedHawk acquired the exclusive rights to
the SANDD Pro™
(the “SANDD
Pro™”) needle incineration technology in September 2018. With
the SANDD Pro™,
the Company’s hypodermic needle incineration capabilities now
include 14-gauge hypodermic needles and higher, up to 8” in length.
Additionally, the acquired SANDD Pro™
technology features a portable, rechargeable, battery operated
unit. This portable unit (the “SANDD Pro™
- Portable”) will incinerate as many as 300 needles, ranging in
gauges as thick as 21 gauge and lengths up to 8” on a single
charge. The SANDD Pro™
- Portable is ideal for field use by first responders, home health
care nurses, veterinarians and home use injectors. The
SANDD Pro™ is FDA approved and OSHA
compliant.
The
newly acquired SANDD
Pro™ technology included, but was not limited to, technical
designs, drawings, trademarks, tradenames, clinical test data, and
all manufacturing tooling and fixtures.
The
complete line of SANDD™
products can be used in virtually all home and commercial
applications including hospitals, first responders, a full range of
clinics and primary care physicians, dentists, veterinarians,
retirement and non-acute healthcare facilities. The
SANDD mini™ is currently offered for sale. After
completion of engineering testing and intellectual property
re-design, the Company said it expects to offer the
SANDD Pro™ and the SANDD Pro™
- Portable for sale during 2019.
Commenting on the SANDD™ technology, G. Darcy Klug, the Company’s
Chairman and Interim Chief Executive Officer said, “The U. S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than
a half-million accidental sticks occur annually, with many of those
injuries going unreported. In addition to potential threats to
medical professionals, sharps often end up in recycling centers
where workers who come into contact with the used needles can be
hurt, or worse, contract life-threatening diseases. Improper
disposal of used needles has also become a threat to public health
in many communities.”
“OSHA,” Klug continued, “estimates 5.6 million
healthcare industry workers in the United States alone are at risk
of occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens via needlestick
injuries. Each year 385,000 needlestick injuries and other
sharps-related injuries are reported by U.S. hospital-based
healthcare personnel. OSHA believes the actual number of
needlestick injuries, including both reported and unreported
injuries, could reach 1 million annually.”
“The
reported cases alone equate to an average of around 1,000 sharps
injuries per day in U.S. hospitals alone,” Klug added. “Including
other non-acute healthcare facilities, it is estimated that 600,000
to 1,000,000 healthcare personnel alone incur a needlestick injury
each year in the U.S. 40% of injuries occur after use and before
disposal of sharp devices, 41% of injuries occur during the use of
sharp devices on patients, and 15% of injuries occur during or
after disposal. Virtually all healthcare personnel worldwide are at
risk of harm from occupational exposures such as needlestick
injuries. While nurses sustain approximately half of all
needlestick injuries, physicians, housekeepers and maintenance
staff, technicians, administrators and waste management personnel
are also harmed. According to the American Hospital Association,
one case of serious infection by bloodborne pathogens can soon add
up to $1 million or more in expenditures for testing, follow-up,
and disability payments. Costs that are harder to quantify include
the emotional cost associated with fear and anxiety from worrying
about the possible consequences of an exposure, direct and indirect
costs associated with drug toxicities and lost time from
work.”
“Legislators have passed laws to make it illegal to
throw needles and sharps into the trash, but only a few states
mandate a system to safely dispose of used needles. Because needles
are considered hazardous medical waste, used needles must be placed
in puncture-proof containers and taken to special drop-off sites.
Many times, in a home setting, patients must travel a long-distance
to safely dispose the needles but some of these patients are
elderly or too ill to travel these long distances. Although, they
can pay to participate in a disposal program through the mail,
wherein used needles are shipped in safe containers to disposal
sites, these programs can be expensive, as much as $50 per month.
Also, these programs do not prevent the re-use of needles by drug
addicts.”
Klug
said the Company believes SANDD™ technology addresses the growing problem of
needle sticks and hazardous waste disposal that continues to plague
the medical and waste management industries. Using proprietary
technology, the SANDD™
units safely convert a used needle into a safe, powder residue in a
matter of a few seconds. The powder residue is then no longer
considered a hazardous material and can be safely disposed with the
normal household waste in a home setting and without the need of
high-priced sharps containers in a home or clinical setting.
The SANDD™
units also eliminate the need of expensive needle mail-back
programs offered by insurance companies.
# # #
About RedHawk Holdings
Corp.
RedHawk Holdings Corp., formerly Independence
Energy Corp., is a diversified holding company which, through its
subsidiaries, is engaged in sales and distribution of medical
devices, sales of branded generic pharmaceutical drugs, commercial
real estate investment and leasing, sales of point of entry
full-body security systems, and specialized financial services.
Through its medical products business unit, the Company sells
WoundClot Surgical - Advanced Bleeding Control, the Sharps and
Needle Destruction Device (SANDD™), and the Carotid Artery Digital
Non-Contact Thermometer. Through our United Kingdom based
subsidiary, we manufacture, and market, branded generic
pharmaceuticals. Our real estate leasing revenues are generated
from various commercial properties under long-term lease.
Additionally, RedHawk’s real estate investment unit holds limited
liability company interest in a commercial restoration project in
Hawaii. The Company’s financial service revenue is from brokerage
services earned in connection with debt placement services. RedHawk
Energy holds the exclusive U.S. manufacturing and distribution
rights for the Centri Controlled Entry System, a unique, closed
cabinet, nominal dose transmission full-body x-ray
scanner.
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