IV
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106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 387
Promoting latex allergy awareness, research, and treatment.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 27, 2000
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Commerce
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Promoting latex allergy awareness, research, and treatment.
Whereas the primary goals of National Latex Allergy Aware-
ness Week are—
(1) to support funding to promote research related
to all aspects of latex allergy including pathophysiology,
causative factors, diagnostics, immunotherapy, treatment
standards, and prevention strategies;
(2) to educate the general public, latex allergy pa-
tients and caregivers, as well as health care providers,
through programs, publications, and other media allowing
for more awareness and diagnostic, management, and
prevention strategies of latex allergy;
(3) to recognize the prevalence of latex allergy as a
public health issue in the general population and to pro-
mote national product standards allowing universal ac-
cess to safe health care, including emergency medical
•HCON 387 IH1S
services, fire fighting, and law enforcement personnel by
all latex allergic patients; and
(4) to promote consumer, patient, and worker safety
by mandating product labeling for all natural rubber
latex or rubber-containing products consistent with the
Food and Drug Administration’s labelling of natural rub-
ber latex medical products;
Whereas the Food and Drug Administration reports that sci-
entific and clinical data demonstrate that certain proteins
found in natural rubber latex harvested from the rubber
tree Hevea brasiliensis are allergenic and, in some in-
stances, may cause severe allergic reactions;
Whereas the Food and Drug Administration also reports that
there remains a discrepancy over whether cornstarch
powder used as a medical product lubricant could be one
of many possible vehicles for exposure to latex proteins;
Whereas glove use, primarily latex gloves, increased eightfold
in the year following the 1987 universal precautions man-
dated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
requiring the use of protective barriers, including gloves;
Whereas latex exposure is ubiquitous and over 40,000 con-
sumer products contain natural rubber latex;
Whereas adverse events reported to the Food and Drug Ad-
ministration caused by latex gloves and other latex-con-
taining products include dermatitis, edema, hives, itching,
rhinitis, conjunctivitis, asthma, difficulty breathing,
anaphlylaxis, and, in some instances, death;
Whereas as of March 1999, the total number of latex allergy
reactions associated with latex-containing medical gloves
reported to the Food and Drug Administration was
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2,330, including reports of 21 deaths, 5 of which were as-
sociated with latex gloves;
Whereas an extremely small percentage of the population
may have an allergic reaction to natural rubber latex;
Whereas the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
issued an alert in June 1997 requesting assistance in
preventing allergic reactions to natural rubber latex
among workers who use gloves and other products con-
taining latex;
Whereas it is vital that the American public become better
educated regarding the signs and symptoms of latex al-
lergy as well as prevention strategies; and
Whereas increased public awareness of possible exposure
routes and natural rubber latex-containing medical and
nonmedical products, including environmental exposure
from powdered gloves and balloons, food contaminated by
workers wearing latex gloves, and thousands of consumer
products may help prevent allergic reactions to natural
rubber latex among patients, workers, and the general
public, as well as reduce the number of people who de-
velop latex allergy: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That—
(1) the Congress should establish research
funding, as recommended by the American College
of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, so that the
causes of latex allergy, as well as improved diag-
•HCON 387 IH1S
nostic, management, and prevention strategies, and
a cure for those affected, may be discovered;
(2) a National Latex Allergy Week should be
established to raise public awareness about latex al-
lergy and the importance of the early detection,
proper management, and practical prevention tac-
tics; and
(3) the President should issue a proclamation
calling on the people of the United States and inter-
ested organizations to observe such a week with ap-
propriate programs and activities.
Æ