3 ms·

Tens of millions of filthy, used medical gloves imported into the US

22 points by LinuxBender 5y ago

hilbert42 5y ago
This is the kind of outcome to be expected when we shut down local production and concomitantly lose local skills. As we've seen with masks, we've lost the ability to retool quickly. This is a matter of national strategic importance and there have been far too many instances of it in recent years. If we want to continue with free trade then we ought to sort out what's of strategic importance and what's not.
chiefalchemist 5y ago
> The gloves, produced almost entirely in south and east Asia, rely on a finite supply of natural rubber, highly-specialized factories and niche manufacturing expertise. Ramping up supply couldn't happen quickly and production from trusted, established brands was spoken for years in advance. In search of a start-up idea? There it is. A medical grade gloves that can replace traditional nitrile gloves.
- extra88 5y ago
  Do people do that, start a company based on a wish for an advancement in materials science? I would think it would be more common, and wiser, to first have an innovation from a research lab then start a company to productize it.
- zemnmez 5y ago
  Like vinyl gloves?
  - jws 5y ago
    Nitrile gloves have better puncture resistance and better tactile sensing than vinyl gloves. This makes them preferred for patient interaction. I suppose new vinyl is better than covertly recycled, contaminated, and leaking nitrile though.
  - jdavis703 5y ago
    No, vinyl is lower quality from TFA.
h2odragon 5y ago
Surely all the masks were fine, tho, right?
- djmips 5y ago
  Right?
jchoong 5y ago
There were definitely bad actors in the pandemic PPE procurement rush. It's mostly cleaned up now (prices/availability are more reasonable) but we would start to see all the lawsuits/investigations come forth from the activity earlier in the year. Too many folks jumped into the business without knowing how it works/how to do verification. We've done a fair bit of nitrile glove trading (after our initial work with N95 procurement & donations early in the pandemic) and happy to answer what I can.
mickotron 5y ago
After the piracy of supplies last year during a pandemic, I must say this feels quite like karma.

22 points by LinuxBender 5y ago

This is the kind of outcome to be expected when we shut down local production and concomitantly lose local skills. As we've seen with masks, we've lost the ability to retool quickly. This is a matter of national strategic importance and there have been far too many instances of it in recent years. If we want to continue with free trade then we ought to sort out what's of strategic importance and what's not.

chiefalchemist 5y ago

> The gloves, produced almost entirely in south and east Asia, rely on a finite supply of natural rubber, highly-specialized factories and niche manufacturing expertise. Ramping up supply couldn't happen quickly and production from trusted, established brands was spoken for years in advance. In search of a start-up idea? There it is. A medical grade gloves that can replace traditional nitrile gloves.

extra88 5y ago
Do people do that, start a company based on a wish for an advancement in materials science? I would think it would be more common, and wiser, to first have an innovation from a research lab then start a company to productize it.
zemnmez 5y ago
Like vinyl gloves?
- jws 5y ago
  Nitrile gloves have better puncture resistance and better tactile sensing than vinyl gloves. This makes them preferred for patient interaction. I suppose new vinyl is better than covertly recycled, contaminated, and leaking nitrile though.
- jdavis703 5y ago
  No, vinyl is lower quality from TFA.

h2odragon 5y ago

Surely all the masks were fine, tho, right?

djmips 5y ago
Right?

jchoong 5y ago

There were definitely bad actors in the pandemic PPE procurement rush. It's mostly cleaned up now (prices/availability are more reasonable) but we would start to see all the lawsuits/investigations come forth from the activity earlier in the year. Too many folks jumped into the business without knowing how it works/how to do verification. We've done a fair bit of nitrile glove trading (after our initial work with N95 procurement & donations early in the pandemic) and happy to answer what I can.

mickotron 5y ago

After the piracy of supplies last year during a pandemic, I must say this feels quite like karma.