Richie Cristina
Philosophy and Ethics of Technology, Technische Universiteit Delft, Delft 2628, The Netherlands
J Med Ethics. 2022 May;48(5):334-337. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2020-106842. Epub 2021 Apr 14.
The US healthcare industry emits an estimated 479 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year; nearly 8% of the country's total emissions. When assessed by sector, hospital care, clinical services, medical structures, and pharmaceuticals are the top emitters. For 15 years, research has been dedicated to the medical structures and equipment that contribute to carbon emissions. More recently, hospital care and clinical services have been examined. However, the carbon of pharmaceuticals is understudied. This article will focus on the carbon emissions of pharmaceuticals since they are consistently calculated to be among the top contributors to healthcare carbon and assess the factors that contribute to pharmaceutical carbon emissions. Specifically, overprescription, pharmaceutical waste, antibiotic resistance, routine prescriptions, non-adherence, drug dependency, lifestyle prescriptions, and drugs given due to a lack of preventive healthcare will be identified. Prescribing practices have environmental ramifications. Carbon reduction, when focused on pharmaceuticals, can lead to cleaner, more sustainable healthcare.
据估计，美国医疗行业每年排放4.79亿吨二氧化碳，占该国总排放量的近8%。按行业评估，医院护理、临床服务、医疗结构和制药是最大的排放源。15年来，研究一直致力于那些导致碳排放的医疗结构和设备。最近，医院护理和临床服务也受到了审视。然而，制药行业的碳排放却研究不足。本文将聚焦于制药行业的碳排放，因为其一直被计算为医疗保健碳排放的主要贡献者之一，并评估导致制药行业碳排放的因素。具体而言，将识别过度开药、药品浪费、抗生素耐药性、常规处方、不依从、药物依赖、生活方式处方以及因缺乏预防性医疗保健而开具的药物。开药行为具有环境影响。专注于制药行业的碳减排可带来更清洁、更可持续的医疗保健。
