2 8 S U P P L E M E N T T O O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E M A Y 2 0 1 6
ural rubber latex gloves carries protein that
can cause respiratory allergic reactions.
Powdered synthetic gloves don't cause
allergic reactions, but are associated with
possible adverse events that have been
linked to the use of all powdered gloves,
including airway and wound inflammation,
and post-op adhesions that form when
fibrous scar tissue grows between internal
organs and tissues.
"This ban is about protecting patients and
healthcare professionals from a danger they
might not even be aware of," says Jeffrey
Shuren, MD, the FDA's director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
"We take bans very seriously and only take this action when we feel it's necessary
to protect the public health."
Should the FDA have acted sooner? Sidney Wolfe, MD, the founder and senior
adviser of the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization Public Citizen's
Health Research Group, helped petition the FDA 18 years ago to do away with
powdered surgical gloves. The group called for a ban again in 2011, arguing that
"cornstarch powder can inflame wounds and promote infection, and cornstarch-
induced adhesions can produce intestinal obstruction, pelvic pain and infertility
in patients operated on by personnel wearing cornstarch-powdered surgical
gloves."
But it wasn't until March — 5 years after posting a request for comments and
information based on such petitions — that the FDA concluded that the risks
associated with the gloves called for dramatic action.
"The fact that it took the FDA 18 years to propose a ban highlights how reck-
lessly negligent the agency is," says Dr. Wolfe. "There is absolutely no new sci-
entific information today that we didn't have in 1998 about the dangers posed by
• LONG HISTORY Healthcare advocates first petitioned the
FDA to ban powdered surgical gloves 18 years ago.
Do you still stock powdered surgical gloves?
yes 39%
no 61%
SOURCE: Outpatient Surgery Magazine
InstaPoll, April 2016, n=202
Instapoll
