Legislative mandates requiring the use of safety needle devices are necessary. This is because hospitals operate under a system in which Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) and manufacturers enter into long-term exclusive contracts that use financial penalties to prohibit the purchase of products outside the contract. This makes it extremely difficult for new and innovative products from small companies to penetrate the market, even when those products incorporate lifesaving technology.

In 1998, the San Francisco Chronicle published a series of articles about HIV and hepatitis transmission that occur due to both contaminated needlestick injuries to healthcare workers and syringe reuse. They also discussed how long-term GPO contracts block market access for small innovative companies like Retractable. The articles focused attention on the need for legislative mandates to require the use of safety needles to protect healthcare workers.

In September 1998, California became the first state to pass a law requiring the use of safety needles. Cal-OSHA enforces this law. Many other states have passed similar laws.

In November 1999, both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a subsidiary of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), issued documents insisting on the use of safety needle devices.

In November 2000, President Clinton signed into law the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act (Public Law 106-430). As a result of the passage of this law, OSHA's revised Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens rule became effective in 2001. Employers are required to identify, evaluate, and implement the use of safer medical devices. They must also maintain a sharps injury log and involve frontline healthcare workers in the evaluation and selection process for safety devices.

Healthcare workers and lawmakers in several other nations have expressed interest in creating laws to mandate the use of safety needle devices in their countries. The prevention of accidental needlestick injury is now a global issue.