The FDA & The Powder Free Glove Fray!

Have you read about the new FDA ban on powdered gloves? Here's an excerpt from a recent publication;

FDA Ban on Powdered Medical Gloves
Effective Date January 18th, 2017

On December 19th, 2016, the FDA’s Final Rule banning powdered surgeon's gloves, powdered patient examination gloves, and absorbable powder for lubricating a surgeon's glove was published.   The rule becomes effective 30 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register.

This makes the effective date of the medical glove powder ban January 18th, 2017

Well, that will create quite a ripple in the Veterinary and human healthcare as well as food service, day care, and on and on. I had a feeling that this ruling would create a problem when I received a call from a broker yesterday trying to peddle a massive load of Triflex surgeons gloves. I asked if they were powdered, and they were and they were being sold for pennies on the dollar - and they had no value in the US and it comes out in many other countries too. 

Then we began receiving calls for powder free surgeons gloves from practices that never ordered from us before. Their other suppliers had no powder free glove inventory. 

Now I may not be the brightest candle on the cake, but I think that most of us would agree that the FDA ban should have given a 6 month window of conversion - not 30 days. There are just so many different needs for gloves - I mean it's massive. I can remember back to when AIDS first came on the scene. It created huge shortages in gloves. This was before vinyl and latex gloves had to be FDA approved. We were sourcing industrial gloves from Canada and buying bulk cases and repacking them. This was before the internet. Baxter Healthcare had given us some software to try with a dial up modem to place orders on their new computer system. By that time, Baxter Healthcare was officially out of gloves. Purely on inspiration from Above, I tried to order gloves on their new ASAP system and guess what - we received a delivery the next day! Well, I did this for several days, until they realized the glitch and cut me off. 

I think many of you will see very high prices on powder free gloves. Some will be from distributors taking advantage of the situation, but most of it will be due to low availability. 

Oh, and about my use of the word fray in the headline. Well here are some definitions -

fray¹

frā/

verb

1. (of a fabric, rope, or cord) unravel or become worn at the edge, typically through constant rubbing.

   "cheap fabric soon frays"

   synonyms:

   unravel, wear, wear thin, wear out/through, become worn

   • (of a person's nerves or temper) show the effects of strain.

     synonyms:

     strain, tax, overtax, put on edge "her nerves were frayed" strained, fraught, tense, edgy, stressed "his frayed nerves"

   • (of a male deer) rub (a bush or small tree) with the head in order to remove the velvet from newly formed antlers, or to mark territory during the rut.

I think that before this powder free glove situation is over - we may all experience each definition of the word. Hoping you weather this storm well -

All the Best,

Simon

An actual Ansell glove ad. Hmmmpf!