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tourniquets, suction tubing and canisters, and various IV tubes,
needle hubs, and catheters.
The medical supplies used in the treatment of patients are
either reusable or disposable. Reusable medical supplies, such
as stainless steel instruments, are sterilized and repackaged
after each use. Disposable single-use medical supplies are
increasingly used and include IV solution bags, tubing and
catheters, syringes, bedpans, diapers, egg crate mattresses,
moisture-barrier pads, pillows, surgical drapes, table covers,
sterile gloves, towels and linens, kits for surgical shave prep
and scrub prior to incision, scalpels with plastic handles, and
kits for inserting and removing sutures. The hospital is
responsible for discarding disposable medical supplies.
Certain other medical supplies are applied to, implanted in,
otherwise administered to, furnished to, or used in connection
with the treatment of, patients. Examples include casts,
crutches, canes, walkers, bandages, sutures, splints, skin
staples, joint replacements, pacemakers, heart valves, orthopedic
devices, and physical and occupational therapy items. Such items
often leave the acute care hospital with the patient, although
medical supplies such as sutures, splints, skin staples, and
implants can be removed from the patient only by a physician or
other trained medical personnel.
Petitioners' psychiatric hospitals use medical supplies less
frequently in the course of treating their patients than
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