The Food and Drug Administration shocks world health practitioners as they ban the use of powdered medical gloves. The agency informs the public that the powder present in the gloves can cause further inflammation and facilitate scar formation between tissues and organs post-surgery.
The use of powdered medical gloves have been practiced for decades and in 1997, the FDA released an initial warning without a ban as it would have caused a shortage against the demand at the time. The imposed ban will be applied to powdered patient-examination gloves, powdered surgeon's gloves and absorbable powder for lubricating a surgeon's glove according to the New York Times.
FDA's initial proposal to ban powdered gloves early this March and will be started on Jan. 19 next year. Though the ban has been executed, the Public Citizen's Health Research Group recalls the previous suggestions in the year 1998 and 2011. The group then refers to the 18-year delay as reckless negligence as reported by Fox News.
"There's absolutely no reason that they could not have initiated the ban back in 1998," Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe said. The Public Citizen's Health Group founder also added that the powder-free latex gloves were about a quarter of all surgical gloves in the market in that period.
The Food and Drug Administration also states that the ban is being performed now as they are now removing the risks from the market because better alternatives have emerged. The same news agency also reported that a couple of hospitals have already switched.
The movement started in the late 1990s and as of today, only a small percentage of the health team uses powdered medical gloves. With the Food and Drug Administration's ban on the formerly used powdered medical gloves for easy access and donning, complications of inflammation and adhesion of tissues and organs are prevented.
