It seems like every day, the list of dangerous hand sanitizers gets longer and longer. And the threat is real: these products have been found to contain methanol, or wood alcohol, which can be deadly if ingested and very dangerous if absorbed through the skin. The toxic side effects of exposure include nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, permanent blindness, seizures, coma, permanent damage to the nervous system or death.
A simple solution, for total peace of mind
The good news is, there’s one simple way to safeguard your patients, team and yourself: only buy hand sanitizer (and all critical products) from a reputable source. With infection control items in short supply and rising in cost, it’s tempting to buy whatever becomes available, wherever that may be. However, as we’ve seen with masks, just because a seller appears to be trustworthy is no guarantee they actually are. Bottom line: if you don’t know exactly who you’re buying from, and precisely what the product is, you might be taking a serious risk.
How Benco Dental safeguards our customers
Our vetting process is carried out by a team of regulatory, compliance and supply chain experts who carefully check each and every product we sell, especially potentially dangerous ones.
Our experience as a Verified Accredited Wholesale Distributor (VAWD) by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy also informs the way we deal with products other than pharmaceuticals. America’s drug supply is repeatedly targeted by individuals and organizations seeking to compromise the supply chain with counterfeit, gray market and substandard drugs. By having strict, uniform procedures in place for product storage, security and verification, Benco maintains integrity throughout the supply chain.
We’re accustomed to safeguarding customers and their patients from drugs that are fake, contaminated, stored in unsanitary or unsafe conditions, or previously dispensed and re-entering the distribution channel. We put a similar amount of effort into everything we sell, but with so many new PPE and infection control products entering the market, we’re extra vigilant.
Bottom line: When you buy hand sanitizer (or masks, or wipes, or gloves) from Benco, you’re getting a safe, authentic, properly sourced product—and we stand by it.
Where to find the latest warnings
While we don’t recommend buying hand sanitizer or other infection control products from unproven sources, there are steps that might help reduce (but not eliminate) the risk of buying a product that causes harm. The FDA regularly updates its data on Drug Safety and Availability, which can help alert you to products they find to be dangerous—but that isn’t to say that there are dangerous products out there they are not aware of. This week, the FDA also issued the latest new warning on dangerous hand sanitizers to avoid—read it here.
Of course, the simplest, safest solution is to confine your purchases to fully vetted products offered by reputable sellers.
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