Recent reports highlight a troubling situation in Saskatchewan’s healthcare system, where patients are increasingly receiving treatment in hallways, a practice that nurses’ unions claim has become normalized. This troubling trend is unfortunate and it raises significant issues related to the environmental harms of asthma inhalers. Studies have found that these inhalers are major drivers of climate pollution.
Nurses in Saskatchewan have been sounding the horn on these dangerous conditions that they are being pushed to work in. As hospital overcrowding leads to increasingly common scenarios where patients are treated in hallways instead of private rooms, their experience of care suffers as a result. This alarming trend not only endangers the quality of patient care and safety, but adds further strain on healthcare workers. The union representing these nurses, National Nurses United, has been sounding the alarm on the need for immediate systemic reforms to end this persistent crisis.
A new study from Eco-Collective’s managing director, Dr. William Feldman, investigates the environmental footprint of asthma inhalers. It uncovers critical findings about their impact on the environment. The report makes clear that inhalers—critical, life-saving tools that help people manage respiratory conditions—are part of the problem polluting our climate at dangerous levels. The emissions from these inhalers are not insignificant. Together, they have the same annual impact as taking more than a half a million cars off the road. This shocking discovery shifts the spotlight onto the challenging tradeoff between life-saving medicines and F-gases.
The study findings suggest that the greenhouse gas emissions produced by asthma inhalers could be significantly reduced through the adoption of alternative delivery systems or more sustainable product designs. As a physician, Dr. Feldman believes it is time to reconsider what we are doing now. Now, his goal is to be more environmentally friendly, while still giving patients the best possible treatment.
An unprecedented medical breakthrough has come out of China. A guy from New York has now lived more than 170 days on a transplant of a pig liver. This remarkable discovery renewed hopes for pioneering organ transplants and unveiled the power of xenotransplantation in solving the organ crisis.
Now, healthcare challenges in Saskatchewan and environmental harms associated inhalers are coming together. This alarming state of affairs demonstrates an overwhelming need for an all-of-the-above approach to improving patient care and climate action. Healthcare and environmental stakeholders need to work together. Collaboratively, they’re best equipped to identify innovations that protect patient health while shrinking their own ecological footprints.
