Medical Waste

When foreign doctors visit American hospitals they are as likely to be appalled by seemingly needless waste as they are by any care-management advantage. Despite no published evidence of patients being harmed by reusable devices, hospitals, perhaps because of liability fear, rely heavily on disposable tools and supplies.  According to “Practice Greenhealth,” a non-profit group in Reston, VA, hospitals generate twenty to thirty percent of their “red bag” waste in operating rooms, where heart catheters, orthopedic drills bits and other expensive equipment can go into the trash along with kit wraps, cloths, bottles and plastic tubes.  No hospital in the US currently uses gasification for waste removal and energy generation, as is common in Europe and Asia-the reason being that landfill remains a cheaper alternative in America.  Resource conservation, however, through better kit design, recycling, sterilization and other means could reduce what both the hospital and the public pays for in removing medical garbage.       MORE

Image Credit:  New York TImes