Needle holder for a suture package

A suture needle holder for a suture package comprising a sheet of planar plastic having at least one raised pedestal therein, said sheet of planar plastic having a substantially uniform thickness so that said at least one raised pedestal comprises the substantially uniform thickness, said at least one raised pedestal having at least one slot therein, said at least one slot comprising two opposing surfaces oriented orthogonal to the sheet of planar plastic, said at least one slot having an open portion and a needle-holding portion releasably holding a portion of the length of a suture needle there in with the length of the suture needle lying in a plane parallel to the sheet of planar plastic, wherein the portion of the length of the suture needle has a diameter and a surface, wherein the open portion of the slot is of a width narrower than the diameter of the portion of the length of the suture needle held within the needle-holding portion of the slot, wherein the two opposing surfaces of the at least one slot intersect the surface of the portion of the length of the suture needle, and wherein the two opposing surfaces are substantially symmetrical with each other in transverse cross section.