Carbon Emissions from Overuse of U.S. Health Care: Medical and Ethical Problems.
The United States health care industry is the second largest in the world, expending an estimated 479 million metric tons (MMT) of carbon dioxide per year, nearly 8 percent of the country's total emissions. The importance of carbon reduction in health care is slowly being accepted. However, efforts...
| Published in: | Hastings Center Report Vol. 52; no. 4; pp. 10 - 17 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article |
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Wiley-Blackwell
Jul2022
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=158655668&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 158655668 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00930334 HCR jtl: Hastings Center Report issn: 00930334 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Jul2022 vid: 52 iid: 4 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell artinfo: ui: 158655668 10.1002/hast.1404 ppf: 10 ppct: 7 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 225KB tig: atl: Carbon Emissions from Overuse of U.S. Health Care: Medical and Ethical Problems. aug: au: Thiel, Cassandra Richie, Cristina su: United States Medical care Environmental justice Bioethics Medical wastes Greenhouse gases Ecological impact Medical care use sug: subj: Medical care Environmental justice Bioethics United States Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology) Medical wastes Greenhouse gases Ecological impact Medical care use keyword: bioethics carbon reduction climate change environmental bioethics health care carbon health care delivery bioethics carbon reduction climate change environmental bioethics health care carbon health care delivery ab: The United States health care industry is the second largest in the world, expending an estimated 479 million metric tons (MMT) of carbon dioxide per year, nearly 8 percent of the country's total emissions. The importance of carbon reduction in health care is slowly being accepted. However, efforts to "green" health care are incomplete since they generally focus on buildings and structures. Yet hospital care and clinical service sectors contribute the most carbon dioxide within the U.S. health care industry, with structures/equipment and pharmaceuticals ranking as the third and fourth highest emitters in the industry. Given the magnitude of health care carbon emissions—and the paucity of attention to the carbon of hospital care and clinical services—this essay identifies overuse of health care as a health threat with serious ethical implications, offers a data‐driven action plan for carbon reduction in health care, and provides practical suggestions for more sustainable health care delivery in the United States. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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