Peggy Ferro

Margaret Frances "Peggy" Ferro (March 19, 1949 – November 4, 1998) was an American healthcare activist and nurse's aide. Her efforts led to laws requiring the use safety syringes in hospitals and other medical settings.

Peggy Ferro
BornMarch 19, 1949
Brooklyn, New York
DiedNovember 4, 1998 (aged 49)
San Francisco, California
Other namesPeggy Ferro Guinto
Occupation(s)Activist, healthcare worker

Early life

Ferro was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised on Staten Island.[1]

Career

Ferro worked in hospitals in San Francisco in the early 1980s, and fought to open an AIDS ward in one hospital. She was active in the Hospital and Institutional Workers Union.[2] She was a nurse's aide in 1990, when she received a needlestick injury while clearing a table in an emergency room. She learned two months later that she was HIV-positive. She worked for changes in the law to require hospitals to use safety needles to prevent similar injuries in others. In a 1992 Congressional hearing, using the pseudonym "Jean Roe", because of the stigma associated with her HIV status.[1][3][4] She cooperated in making two videos, The Real Jane Roe, about her experiences, and a training video for nurses about needle safety.[5]

Ferro started a support group for HIV-positive women.[6] "Peggy wanted to make sure women with AIDS were not invisible," her partner told the Bay Area Reporter in 1998.[5]

The law she lobbied to create was passed in California shortly before her death,[1] and went into effect in July 1999.[7] At the federal level, the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act became a national law in 2000.[8]

Personal life

Ferro was briefly married in the 1980s. Ferro died from AIDS in San Francisco in 1998, at the age of 49, survived by her partner Cindy Chang.[1][9] "Her reputation was far-reaching, and her situation was tragic," commented Assemblywoman Carole Migden.[5]

References
  1. Carlsen, William (1998-11-12). "Peggy Ferro". SFGATE. Retrieved 2022-06-04.
  2. Gibbs, Walt (1986-12-14). "Kaiser Workers End Strike". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Faue, Elizabeth; Rector, Josiah (2020). "The Precarious Work of Care: OSHA, AIDS, and Women Health-Care Workers, 1983–2000". Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas. 17 (4): 9–33. doi:10.1215/15476715-8643460. ISSN 1558-1454. S2CID 234524823.
  4. Givan, Rebecca Kolins (2016-09-20). The Challenge to Change: Reforming Health Care on the Front Line in the United States and the United Kingdom. Cornell University Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-1-5017-0657-8.
  5. Rodrigues, Timothy (November 12, 1998). "Lesbian AIDS activist Peggy Ferro dies at 49". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  6. Kershaw, Sarah (1993-11-14). "Women coping with AIDS". Oakland Tribune. pp. B1, B2. Retrieved 2022-06-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. LaBar, Greg (July 8, 1999). "California Has First Safety Needle Law in Effect" EHS Today.
  8. Ballenger, Cass (2000-11-06). "H.R.5178 - 106th Congress (1999-2000): Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act". Congress.gov. Retrieved 2022-06-04.
  9. United States Congress House Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Workforce Protections (June 22, 2000). OSHA's Compliance Directive on Bloodborne Pathogens and the Prevention of Needlestick Injuries. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 15 (Statement of Ms. Lorraine Thiebaud). ISBN 978-0-16-061186-5.
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