<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 Identification No.)
 Incorporation or Organization)

150 Motor Parkway, Hauppauge, New York                11788
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)              (Zip Code)

                 1996 NON-EMPLOYEE DIRECTORS STOCK OPTION PLAN
                              (Full Title of Plan)

              RICHARD G. SATIN, VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL
                         MEDICAL ACTION INDUSTRIES INC.
                               150 Motor Parkway
                           Hauppauge, New York 11788
                    (Name and Address of Agent for Service)
                                 (516) 231-4600
         (Telephone number, including area code, of Agent for Service)

                        CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
==============================================================================
                                      Proposed      Proposed
                                      Maximum       Maximum
Title of             Amount           Offering      Aggregate     Amount of
Securities to        to be            Price Per     Offering      Registration
be Registered        Registered       Share (1)     Price (1)     Fee
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock,
par value
$.001 per share      100,000 shs.(2)  $3.375        $337,500      $117.00
==============================================================================
(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 September 2, 1997.

(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, 1997.

         (b)      The Corporation's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
                  fiscal quarter ended June 30, 1997.

         (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.

         None.

                                       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      1996 Non-Employee Directors Stock Option Plan.

         5        Opinion and consent of Richard G. Satin, Vice President and
                  General Counsel, relating to the legality of securities under
                  the 1996 Non-Employee Directors Stock Option Plan.

         23.1     Consent of Ernst & Young LLP

         23.2     Consent of Richard G. Satin, Vice President and General
                  Counsel - 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 int he
                           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 

                                       4


<PAGE>

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.

         (h) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling
persons 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 3rd day of September, 1997.

                                            MEDICAL ACTION INDUSTRIES INC.

                                            By: /s/ Paul D. Meringola
                                                ------------------------------
                                                Paul D. Meringola, President


                               POWER OF ATTORNEY

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, this Registration Statement has been signed on September 3, 1997 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,

                                       6

<PAGE>

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/ Joseph R. Meringola           Chairman of the Board
- --------------------------
Joseph R. Meringola

/s/ Paul D. Meringola             President and Director
- --------------------------
Paul D. Meringola

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

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

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

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

                                       7

<PAGE>

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                                Washington, D.C.

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

                        Form S-8 Registration Statement

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

                                 EXHIBIT INDEX
==============================================================================

                                                       Page No. in Sequential
Exhibit                                                Numbering of all Pages,
Number         Exhibit Description                     including Exhibit Pages
- ------         -------------------                     -----------------------

4.1            1996 Non-Employee Directors
               Stock Option Plan.................................9

5              Opinion and Consent of Counsel...................14

23.1           Consent of Ernst & Young LLP.....................15

23.2           Consent of Counsel...............................See Exhibit 5
[{"type": "S-8", "sequence": "1", "description": "REGISTRATION STATEMENT", "secsgml_size_bytes": 15647}]
{"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", "file-number": "333-35015", "film-number": "97675988"}, "business-address": {"street1": "150 MOTOR PKWY", "city": "HAUPPAUGE", "state": "NY", "zip": "11788", "phone": "5162314600"}, "mail-address": {"street2": "150 MOTOR PKWY", "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 Identification No.)
 Incorporation or Organization)

150 Motor Parkway, Hauppauge, New York                11788
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)              (Zip Code)

                 1996 NON-EMPLOYEE DIRECTORS STOCK OPTION PLAN
                              (Full Title of Plan)

              RICHARD G. SATIN, VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL
                         MEDICAL ACTION INDUSTRIES INC.
                               150 Motor Parkway
                           Hauppauge, New York 11788
                    (Name and Address of Agent for Service)
                                 (516) 231-4600
         (Telephone number, including area code, of Agent for Service)

                        CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
==============================================================================
                                      Proposed      Proposed
                                      Maximum       Maximum
Title of             Amount           Offering      Aggregate     Amount of
Securities to        to be            Price Per     Offering      Registration
be Registered        Registered       Share (1)     Price (1)     Fee
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock,
par value
$.001 per share      100,000 shs.(2)  $3.375        $337,500      $117.00
==============================================================================
(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 September 2, 1997.

(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, 1997.

         (b)      The Corporation's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
                  fiscal quarter ended June 30, 1997.

         (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.

         None.

                                       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      1996 Non-Employee Directors Stock Option Plan.

         5        Opinion and consent of Richard G. Satin, Vice President and
                  General Counsel, relating to the legality of securities under
                  the 1996 Non-Employee Directors Stock Option Plan.

         23.1     Consent of Ernst & Young LLP

         23.2     Consent of Richard G. Satin, Vice President and General
                  Counsel - 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 int he
                           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 

                                       4
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.

         (h) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling
persons 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 3rd day of September, 1997.

                                            MEDICAL ACTION INDUSTRIES INC.

                                            By: /s/ Paul D. Meringola
                                                ------------------------------
                                                Paul D. Meringola, President

                               POWER OF ATTORNEY

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, this Registration Statement has been signed on September 3, 1997 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,

                                       6
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/ Joseph R. Meringola           Chairman of the Board
- --------------------------
Joseph R. Meringola

/s/ Paul D. Meringola             President and Director
- --------------------------
Paul D. Meringola

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

/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
==============================================================================

                                                       Page No. in Sequential
Exhibit                                                Numbering of all Pages,
Number         Exhibit Description                     including Exhibit Pages
- ------         -------------------                     -----------------------

4.1            1996 Non-Employee Directors
               Stock Option Plan.................................9

5              Opinion and Consent of Counsel...................14

23.1           Consent of Ernst & Young LLP.....................15

23.2           Consent of Counsel...............................See Exhibit 5