Letter to the Editor

Editor:

As a longtime subscriber to Hospital Employee Health, I have always been impressed by the scientific and technical quality of this publication. However, I am shocked and appalled to see in the November issue on page 128 that you have given free advertising space to the Allegiance Healthcare Corporation to promote the continued sales of their powdered latex gloves.

Allegiance knows, and I would have assumed that a publication of your caliber would have also known, that the government study in question was not able to, nor was it designed to measure whether or not healthcare workers are allergic to latex. I think you owe it to your readership to set the record straight.

Bill Borwegen

Health and Safety Director

Service Employees International Union

Washington, DC

Editor’s note: The letter to the editor from Allegiance Healthcare Corp. was printed in response to a mistake on our part in the June 1999 issue of Hospital Employee Health. As for latex allergy, HEH has been the preeminent source of information on all sides of this issue as it pertains to health care workers, and will continue to be so in the future.