Recently, I decided to throw away all my old cancer drugs, a small mountain of orange-and-white plastic bottles. Cancer no longer deserved a whole shelf. It had been three years since the diagnosis, a year and a half since my last chemo treatment, six months since I started sleeping again. I was a healthy person, not a patient. All I needed now was tamoxifen and a few vitamins. These drugs weren’t my life anymore. Why […]
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Healthcare is a highly regulated field, and for good reason. A small mistake could cost a life. But risk-averse tendencies extend far beyond clinical care to create a clunky, wasteful system. The pandemic helped healthcare providers see how nimble and innovative they could be while still providing high-quality care. Now, systems must keep up or disruption will come from the outside. “Innovation is obviously very important in our industry because if we don’t disrupt ourselves, […]
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Health care is a major polluter both in terms of emissions and contributions to landfills. The combined health sectors of the United States, Australia, England, and Canada emit an estimated 748 million metric tons of greenhouse gases each year, more than all but the six top polluting countries in the world. Meanwhile, a report on 110 Canadian hospitals published in 2019 found those institutions generated nearly 87 000 tons of waste annually — roughly the […]
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Medical waste is a critically important, but often overlooked issue that impacts not just businesses and medical professionals, but society as a whole. As more and more of the world’s population demands access to better medical care, careful handling becomes an even larger concern. To ensure everyone remains safe during its disposal, you need to know as much as you can about it. Read on to find out the most important things! Handling And Disposal […]
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It is important to properly understand what medical or biohazardous waste should be disposed of in red trash bags. These bags are specifically designed to contain solid or liquid items that are contaminated with blood or other potentially infectious materials (OPIM). Medical waste can be defined in different ways, such as regulated, infective, infectious, or biohazardous waste. According to OSHA, biohazardous waste includes liquid or semi-liquid blood or other potentially infectious materials, contaminated items that […]
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Now more than ever, businesses are under a microscope for their environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts. Consumers and stakeholders expect the companies they support to not only have an ESG strategy but also to be accountable for the plans they have articulated. During uncertain economic times, it can be difficult to prioritize ESG initiatives when there is the urge to tighten budgets. But today, ESG efforts are more than just a “nice-to-have.” ESG can […]
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The medical devices industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by increased need for homecare, preventative treatments, early diagnosis, reducing patient recovery times and improving outcomes, as well as a growing importance in technologies, such as machine learning, augmented reality, 5G and digitization. In the last three years alone, there have been over 450,000 patents filed and granted in the medical devices industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Environment Sustainability in […]
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Like many other industries, the medical device industry has been undergoing changes recently in order to become more sustainable. Unfortunately, strict regulations mean that changes in this industry are quite slow when compared to others, but positive change is underway. There are various steps that can be taken to minimize the amount of waste produced through medical devices, as well as reduce the environmental damages that this waste causes and the one of the best […]
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Too often, unused and expired medications find their way into the wrong hands. That’s dangerous and often tragic. Bringing unused and expired medications to a Drug Take Back Day collection site protects you, your family, and your community. National Prescription Take Back Day is a bi-annual event that occurs in the United States to encourage people to safely dispose of their unused or expired prescription drugs. The event is typically held on a Saturday in […]
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P-list hazardous waste is considered acutely hazardous waste and must be managed carefully and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Here are some general steps for disposing of p-list hazardous waste: Identify the waste: Identify the waste as p-list hazardous waste using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Hazardous Waste Codes. These codes classify hazardous wastes according to the risks they pose to human health and the environment. Segregate the waste: Store the p-list […]
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