It looks genuine. Even the package looks convincing and seen in some general waste or on a picking line could bring things to a standstill.

Even worse, a child reporting some minor injury and describing contact with such an item could send Mum into a state of panic and require a difficult assessment in A&E and a considerable period of anxiety for all concerned.

We have previously discussed the availability of ‘syringe pens’ on the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum. Over the years, these have developed to include ballpoint pens, pencils and highlighters, and variants mounted on a

lanyard marketed for nurses, and with overprinting as corporate gifts used by, among others, at least a couple of waste management companies.

The newer product, complete with its printed box, really does look like a pharma product. Of course, it isn’t. It’s for the X-Box 360!

But what happens if it is found, scrumpled and battered among recyclables, or ‘contaminating’ sanitary wastes, or in the steet, a playground or park? It’s only a toy, we can ignore it, just keep your fingers crossed that in future nobody confuses teh real thing and fails to deal properly with a hazar