<PAGE>



                               Registration No.

==============================================================================

                      SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                               Washington, D.C.

                           ------------------------

                                   FORM S-8
                            REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                     under
                          THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                           ------------------------

                        MEDICAL ACTION INDUSTRIES INC.
            (Exact Name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)

            Delaware                                    11-2421849
   (State or other Jurisdiction of                      (I.R.S. Employer
    Incorporation or Organization)                      Identification No.)
   800 Prime Place, Hauppauge, New York                 11788
   (Address of Principal Executive Offices)             (Zip Code)

                           1994 STOCK INCENTIVE PLAN
                             (Full Title of Plan)

             RICHARD G. SATIN, VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL
                        MEDICAL ACTION INDUSTRIES INC.
                                800 Prime Place
                           Hauppauge, New York 11788
                    (Name and Address of Agent for Service)
                                (631) 231-4600
         (Telephone number, including area code, of Agent for Service)

                        CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
===================================================================================================================
                                                 Proposed Maximum       Proposed Maximum
                                                 Offering Price Per     Aggregate Offering
Title of Securities to be     Amount to be       Share (1)              Price (1)                Amount of
Registered                    Registered                                                         Registration Fee
<S>                           <C>                <C>                    <C>                      <C>
Common Stock, par value
$.001 per share               500,000 shs.(2)    $10.27                 $5,135,000               $473.00

===================================================================================================================
</TABLE>

(1)  Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee,
     based upon the closing price of the Company's Common Stock on the
     NASDAQ-National Market System on March 4, 2002.
(2)  In addition, pursuant to Rule 416(a) under the Securities Act of 1933,
     this registration statement also covers an indeterminate amount of
     additional shares of Common Stock which may become issuable pursuant to
     anti-dilution and adjustment provisions of the Plan.



<PAGE>


PART II

              INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

ITEM 3.  INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE.

         The following documents filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "Commission") by Medical Action Industries Inc., a Delaware
corporation (the "Corporation" or the "Registrant"), are incorporated herein
by reference.

        (a) The Corporation's Annual Report filed on Form 10-K for the fiscal
            year ended March 31, 2001.

        (b) The Corporation's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the fiscal
            quarters ended June 30, 2001, September 30, 2001 and December 31,
            2001.

        (c) The description of the Corporation's common stock, par value $.001
            per share, contained in the Company's Registration Statement filed
            on Form 8-A pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act
            of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act").

         All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to
Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all
remaining securities offered have been sold or which deregisters all
securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by
reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date
of filing of such documents. Any statement in a document incorporated or
deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified
or superseded for the purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent
that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document
which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or
supersedes such statement. Any statement so modified or superseded shall not
be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this
Registration Statement.


ITEM 4.  DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES.

         Not applicable.


ITEM 5.  INTEREST OF NAMES EXPERTS AND COUNSEL.

         Mr. Richard G. Satin, Vice President of Operations, General Counsel
and Secretary of the Company. Mr. Satin has been granted 140,000 options under
the 1994 Stock Incentive Plan, as amended, at exercise prices ranging from
$1.88 to $3.375 per share and issued 10,000 restricted stock bonus shares.




                                      2
<PAGE>


ITEM 6.  INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.

         Under provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation and By-Laws of
the Registrant, each person who is or was a director or officer of the
Registrant shall be indemnified by Registrant as of right to the full extent
permitted or authorized by the General Corporation Law of Delaware.

         Under such law, to the extent that such person is successful on the
merits of a defense of a suit or proceeding brought against him by reason of
the fact that he is a director or officer of Registrant, he shall be
indemnified against expenses (including attorneys' fees) reasonably incurred
in connection with such action.

         If unsuccessful in the defense of a third-party civil suit or a
criminal suit is settled, such a person shall be indemnified under such law
against both (1) expenses (including attorneys' fees) and (2) judgments, fines
and amounts paid in settlement if he acted in good faith and in a manner he
reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of
Registrant, and with respect to any criminal action, had no reasonable cause
to believe his conduct was unlawful.

         If unsuccessful in the defense of a suit brought by or in the right
of Registrant, or if such suit is settled, such a person shall be indemnified
under such law only against expenses (including attorneys' fees) incurred in
the defense or settlement of such suit if he acted in good faith and in a
manner he reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests
of Registrant, except that if such a person is adjudicated to be liable in
such suit for negligence or misconduct in the performance of his duty to
Registrant, he cannot be made whole even for expenses unless the court
determines that he is fairly and reasonably entitled to be indemnified for
such expenses.


ITEM 7.  EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED.

         Not applicable.


ITEM 8.  EXHIBITS.

         4.1   1994 Stock Incentive Plan, as amended

         5     Opinion and consent of Richard G. Satin, Vice President of
               Operations, General Counsel and Secretary, relating to the
               legality of securities under the 1994 Stock Incentive Plan

         23.1  Consent of Grant Thornton LLP

         23.2  Consent of Richard G. Satin, Vice President of Operations,
               General Counsel and Secretary -included in his opinion filed as
               Exhibit 5.






                                      3
<PAGE>



ITEM 9.  UNDERTAKINGS.

         (a) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

              (1)   To file, during any period in which offers or sales are
                    being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration
                    statement;

              (i)   To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of
                    the Securities Act of 1933;

              (ii)  To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising
                    after the effective date of the registration statement (or
                    the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which,
                    individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental
                    change in the information set forth in the registration
                    statement;

              (iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan
                    of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration
                    statement or any material change to such information in the
                    registration statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if
the registration statement is on Form S-3, Form S-8, and information required
to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained
in periodic reports filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13 or 15(d)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in
the registration statement.

              (2)  That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
                   Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment
                   shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating
                   to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such
                   securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial
                   bona fide offering thereof.

              (3)  To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
                   amendment any of the securities being registered which
                   remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

         (b) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes
of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of
the Registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable, each filing of an
employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that is incorporated by reference in the
registration statement that shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such
securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering
thereof.


                                      4
<PAGE>


         (h) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling
person of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise,
the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and
Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed
in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for
indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the
Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling
person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or
proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in
connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless
in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling
precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether
such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act
and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.


















                                      5
<PAGE>


SIGNATURES



         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the
Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets
all requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in Hauppauge, New York on the 4th day of March, 2002.





                                                 MEDICAL ACTION INDUSTRIES INC.


                                                 By: /s/ Paul D. Meringolo
                                                     ---------------------
                                                      Paul D. Meringolo
                                                      President








                                      6
<PAGE>


POWER OF ATTORNEY



Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this
Registration Statement has been signed on March 4, 2002 by the following
persons in the capacities indicated. Each person whose signature appears below
constitutes and appoints Paul D. Meringola, with full power of substitution,
our true and lawful attorney and agent to do any and all acts and things in
our name and on our behalf in our capacities indicated below which we may deem
necessary or advisable to enable Medical Action Industries Inc. to comply with
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and any rules, regulations and
requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission, in connection with
this Registration Statement including specifically, but not limited, to, power
and authority to sign for us or any of us in our names in the capacities
stated below, any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments)
thereof; and we do hereby ratify and confirm all that we shall do or cause to
be done by virtue thereof.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
         Signature                    Title
         ---------                    -----

<S>                                   <C>
/s/ Paul D. Meringolo
---------------------------           Chief Executive Officer, Chairman, President and
Paul D. Meringolo                     Director


/s/ Richard G. Satin
-----------------------------         Vice President of Operations, General Counsel and
Richard G. Satin                      Director (Principal Accounting Officer)


/s/ Bernard Wengrover
------------------------------        Director
Bernard Wengrover


/s/ Philip F. Corso
------------------------------        Director
Philip F. Corso


/s/ Thomas A. Nicosia
----------------------------          Director
Thomas A. Nicosia

</TABLE>







                                      7
<PAGE>



                      SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                               Washington, D.C.



                ===============================================
                        MEDICAL ACTION INDUSTRIES INC.
                ===============================================

                        Form S-8 Registration Statement

               ================================================

                                 EXHIBIT INDEX

               =================================================



Exhibit Description                                          Exhibit Number
-------------------                                          --------------

1994 Stock Incentive Plan, as amended                                   4.1

Opinion and Consent of Counsel                                            5

Consent of Grant Thornton LLP                                          23.1

Consent of Counsel                                            See Exhibit 5









                                      8
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{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "MEDICAL ACTION INDUSTRIES INC", "cik": "0000748270", "assigned-sic": "3842", "irs-number": "112421849", "state-of-incorporation": "DE", "fiscal-year-end": "0331"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-83926", "film-number": "02569187"}, "business-address": {"street1": "800 PRIME PL", "city": "HAUPPAUGE", "state": "NY", "zip": "11788", "phone": "5162314600"}, "mail-address": {"street1": "150 MOTOR PKWY", "street2": "STE 205", "city": "HAUPPAUGE", "state": "NY", "zip": "11788"}}
Registration No.

==============================================================================

                      SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                               Washington, D.C.

                           ------------------------

                                   FORM S-8
                            REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                     under
                          THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                           ------------------------

                        MEDICAL ACTION INDUSTRIES INC.
            (Exact Name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)

            Delaware                                    11-2421849
   (State or other Jurisdiction of                      (I.R.S. Employer
    Incorporation or Organization)                      Identification No.)
   800 Prime Place, Hauppauge, New York                 11788
   (Address of Principal Executive Offices)             (Zip Code)

                           1994 STOCK INCENTIVE PLAN
                             (Full Title of Plan)

             RICHARD G. SATIN, VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL
                        MEDICAL ACTION INDUSTRIES INC.
                                800 Prime Place
                           Hauppauge, New York 11788
                    (Name and Address of Agent for Service)
                                (631) 231-4600
         (Telephone number, including area code, of Agent for Service)

                        CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
===================================================================================================================
                                                 Proposed Maximum       Proposed Maximum
                                                 Offering Price Per     Aggregate Offering
Title of Securities to be     Amount to be       Share (1)              Price (1)                Amount of
Registered                    Registered                                                         Registration Fee
Common Stock, par value
$.001 per share               500,000 shs.(2)    $10.27                 $5,135,000               $473.00

===================================================================================================================
(1)  Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee,
     based upon the closing price of the Company's Common Stock on the
     NASDAQ-National Market System on March 4, 2002.
(2)  In addition, pursuant to Rule 416(a) under the Securities Act of 1933,
     this registration statement also covers an indeterminate amount of
     additional shares of Common Stock which may become issuable pursuant to
     anti-dilution and adjustment provisions of the Plan.
PART II

              INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

ITEM 3.  INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE.

         The following documents filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "Commission") by Medical Action Industries Inc., a Delaware
corporation (the "Corporation" or the "Registrant"), are incorporated herein
by reference.

        (a) The Corporation's Annual Report filed on Form 10-K for the fiscal
            year ended March 31, 2001.

        (b) The Corporation's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the fiscal
            quarters ended June 30, 2001, September 30, 2001 and December 31,
            2001.

        (c) The description of the Corporation's common stock, par value $.001
            per share, contained in the Company's Registration Statement filed
            on Form 8-A pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act
            of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act").

         All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to
Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all
remaining securities offered have been sold or which deregisters all
securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by
reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date
of filing of such documents. Any statement in a document incorporated or
deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified
or superseded for the purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent
that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document
which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or
supersedes such statement. Any statement so modified or superseded shall not
be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this
Registration Statement.

ITEM 4.  DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES.

         Not applicable.

ITEM 5.  INTEREST OF NAMES EXPERTS AND COUNSEL.

         Mr. Richard G. Satin, Vice President of Operations, General Counsel
and Secretary of the Company. Mr. Satin has been granted 140,000 options under
the 1994 Stock Incentive Plan, as amended, at exercise prices ranging from
$1.88 to $3.375 per share and issued 10,000 restricted stock bonus shares.

                                      2
ITEM 6.  INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.

         Under provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation and By-Laws of
the Registrant, each person who is or was a director or officer of the
Registrant shall be indemnified by Registrant as of right to the full extent
permitted or authorized by the General Corporation Law of Delaware.

         Under such law, to the extent that such person is successful on the
merits of a defense of a suit or proceeding brought against him by reason of
the fact that he is a director or officer of Registrant, he shall be
indemnified against expenses (including attorneys' fees) reasonably incurred
in connection with such action.

         If unsuccessful in the defense of a third-party civil suit or a
criminal suit is settled, such a person shall be indemnified under such law
against both (1) expenses (including attorneys' fees) and (2) judgments, fines
and amounts paid in settlement if he acted in good faith and in a manner he
reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of
Registrant, and with respect to any criminal action, had no reasonable cause
to believe his conduct was unlawful.

         If unsuccessful in the defense of a suit brought by or in the right
of Registrant, or if such suit is settled, such a person shall be indemnified
under such law only against expenses (including attorneys' fees) incurred in
the defense or settlement of such suit if he acted in good faith and in a
manner he reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests
of Registrant, except that if such a person is adjudicated to be liable in
such suit for negligence or misconduct in the performance of his duty to
Registrant, he cannot be made whole even for expenses unless the court
determines that he is fairly and reasonably entitled to be indemnified for
such expenses.

ITEM 7.  EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED.

         Not applicable.

ITEM 8.  EXHIBITS.

         4.1   1994 Stock Incentive Plan, as amended

         5     Opinion and consent of Richard G. Satin, Vice President of
               Operations, General Counsel and Secretary, relating to the
               legality of securities under the 1994 Stock Incentive Plan

         23.1  Consent of Grant Thornton LLP

         23.2  Consent of Richard G. Satin, Vice President of Operations,
               General Counsel and Secretary -included in his opinion filed as
               Exhibit 5.

                                      3
ITEM 9.  UNDERTAKINGS.

         (a) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

              (1)   To file, during any period in which offers or sales are
                    being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration
                    statement;

              (i)   To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of
                    the Securities Act of 1933;

              (ii)  To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising
                    after the effective date of the registration statement (or
                    the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which,
                    individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental
                    change in the information set forth in the registration
                    statement;

              (iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan
                    of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration
                    statement or any material change to such information in the
                    registration statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if
the registration statement is on Form S-3, Form S-8, and information required
to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained
in periodic reports filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13 or 15(d)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in
the registration statement.

              (2)  That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
                   Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment
                   shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating
                   to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such
                   securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial
                   bona fide offering thereof.

              (3)  To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
                   amendment any of the securities being registered which
                   remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

         (b) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes
of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of
the Registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable, each filing of an
employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that is incorporated by reference in the
registration statement that shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such
securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering
thereof.

                                      4
(h) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling
person of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise,
the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and
Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed
in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for
indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the
Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling
person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or
proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in
connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless
in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling
precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether
such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act
and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

                                      5
SIGNATURES

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the
Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets
all requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in Hauppauge, New York on the 4th day of March, 2002.

                                                 MEDICAL ACTION INDUSTRIES INC.

                                                 By: /s/ Paul D. Meringolo
                                                     ---------------------
                                                      Paul D. Meringolo
                                                      President

                                      6
POWER OF ATTORNEY

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this
Registration Statement has been signed on March 4, 2002 by the following
persons in the capacities indicated. Each person whose signature appears below
constitutes and appoints Paul D. Meringola, with full power of substitution,
our true and lawful attorney and agent to do any and all acts and things in
our name and on our behalf in our capacities indicated below which we may deem
necessary or advisable to enable Medical Action Industries Inc. to comply with
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and any rules, regulations and
requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission, in connection with
this Registration Statement including specifically, but not limited, to, power
and authority to sign for us or any of us in our names in the capacities
stated below, any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments)
thereof; and we do hereby ratify and confirm all that we shall do or cause to
be done by virtue thereof.
Signature                    Title
         ---------                    -----
/s/ Paul D. Meringolo
---------------------------           Chief Executive Officer, Chairman, President and
Paul D. Meringolo                     Director

/s/ Richard G. Satin
-----------------------------         Vice President of Operations, General Counsel and
Richard G. Satin                      Director (Principal Accounting Officer)

/s/ Bernard Wengrover
------------------------------        Director
Bernard Wengrover

/s/ Philip F. Corso
------------------------------        Director
Philip F. Corso

/s/ Thomas A. Nicosia
----------------------------          Director
Thomas A. Nicosia
7
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                               Washington, D.C.

                ===============================================
                        MEDICAL ACTION INDUSTRIES INC.
                ===============================================

                        Form S-8 Registration Statement

               ================================================

                                 EXHIBIT INDEX

               =================================================

Exhibit Description                                          Exhibit Number
-------------------                                          --------------

1994 Stock Incentive Plan, as amended                                   4.1

Opinion and Consent of Counsel                                            5

Consent of Grant Thornton LLP                                          23.1

Consent of Counsel                                            See Exhibit 5

                                      8