Going Under For Surgery? Doctors May Be Going Green Too

by Jess Leber · 2010-07-11 06:13:00 -0400
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When doctors decide that going "green" means more than a quick change into their surgical scrubs, you know that saving the environment is really catching on.

Anesthesiologists -- the doctors that put you to sleep before surgery -- are now calculating which drugs have the smallest carbon footprint, as reported recently in the academic journal Anesthesia & Analgesia. Inhaled anesthesia is apparently a greenhouse gas, and so it warms the planet when hospitals vent leftovers to the atmosphere.

But some drugs are worse than others. A mid-sized hospital that exclusively used one popular drug would add to their carbon footprint as if they drove around 100 cars for a year. If the same hospital went for the most carbon-heavy drug, the footprint would be similar to the carbon output of 1,200 cars. This isn't a huge difference in the grand scheme of things, the study's author told the Sacramento Bee, but every bit helps.

So I'm all for rooting out the last vestiges of wasteful carbon from every last corner of our society. But, I have to say, this study makes me slightly nervous. "Going under" is a dangerous procedure, and I'm not sure I want my doctor thinking about the fate of the planet at a time he should be focused solely on my own fate.

Now, obviously the doctors themselves were quick to say that patient safety should and will always come first when choosing the correct drug. But, regardless, doctors who are concerned about the environment would want to know this information, they contend.

That still is some cold comfort for me. What if one day hospitals are trying to squeeze their carbon footprint just like the medical system is trying to squeeze patients and cut costs?  I doubt this would ever happen but, hey you never know. Feel free to leave your thoughts about whether this sort of thinking is taking the "going green" mentality one step too far.

Photo credit: Dno967, FlickrUser

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Jess Leber is a Change.org editor. She most recently covered climate and energy issues as a reporter in Washington, D.C
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