Caution! ChemoPlus Gown May Not Afford Worker Protection

Looking at the product name—ChemoPlus—health professionals may believe that Covidien ChemoPlus Protective Gowns offer all the protection that pharmacists or nurses need against personal exposure to chemotherapy drugs during preparation or administration. But a pharmacist recently reported that a technician he works with experienced an exposure to a non-chemotherapy drug despite wearing this gown. While preparing a dose of iron dextran injection, the technician accidentally sprayed the drug onto her ChemoPlus gown sleeve and found that the solution had seeped through the gown and onto her clothes. The incident caused them to look more closely at the ChemoPlus gown product information. They discovered that, while the product description states that the fabric is “splash resistant,” the product catalog does not specifically rate the ChemoPlus Protective Gowns as meeting recommendations from the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS), for protection while preparing or administering chemotherapy drugs. Only the company’s ChemoPlus Poly-Coated and the ChemoBloc Poly-Coated Gowns meet OSHA, ASHP, and ONS recommendations as chemotherapy-tested gowns that are considered appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) for use when handling chemotherapy. We contacted a representative from Covidien, who told us the name ChemoPlus is a brand name and is not an indication of the level of protection against spills. As far as the claim regarding “splash resistant” fabric, we were told that a chemotherapy drug splashed onto the gown should bead up and roll off; but if pressure is applied to the area, the drug will penetrate through the gown (note: the pharmacist reporting the above exposure did not say pressure had been applied). The company states that only the poly-coated gowns are impervious. We believe the name “Chemo-Plus” may have misled this organization and others into thinking they were maximally protected when they were not. We have asked the company to give serious consideration to renaming their product and also to boldly clarify that the gown does not protect workers from chemotherapy exposures under many circumstances. If you are using gowns from Covidien for protection during chemotherapy preparation and administration, please be sure the gowns are poly-coated and meet OSHA, ASHP, and ONS recommendations.