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Medicine finds human blood infinitely useful. It is a source of important and sometimes controversial information about individuals, their relatives and the general public. Blood also has economic value, carries a heavy cultural freight, and can transmit dangerous diseases. Yet there is precious little sociological analysis of how these radically different applications, potentials and significations are managed in health care settings where, it is no exaggeration to claim, everyday a vast quantity of blood is produced by venepuncture. This paper focuses on blood produced in hospitals for tests. The data were derived from 19 focus groups of patients, health care professionals, and members of the public, held between 2002 and 2003, in and around the obstetrics and gynaecology department of a large London teaching hospital. Not surprisingly, all the participants had had a blood test at some time or other. Yet their responses suggest no template exists for talking about them. No-one--lay or professional--had a full picture of how blood produced for tests circulates around the hospital. Lay people tended to envisage it as remaining in a liquid form whereas health care professionals saw it as materially and substantially transformed. Participants deployed a variety of ritual and rhetorical devices that devalue blood produced for tests. Nonetheless, blood left over from tests emerged as a significant anomaly, simultaneously an excess (waste), a challenge (to use wisely), or a potential crime (illegitimate research).
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The availability of single-patient-use laparoscopic instrumentation has been important for the adoption of laparoscopic surgery. Many surgeons were first introduced to laparoscopic surgery through the use of single-patient-use instrumentation. While there are reusable alternatives in most cases, many surgeons and operating room nurses still prefer single-patient-use instruments because they are sterile, safe, reliable, innovative in design, and always available. They also offer potential long-term hospital cost savings.
Waste production in healthcare facilities in developing countries has brought about a variety of concerns due to the use of inappropriate methods of managing the wastes. Inappropriate treatment and final disposal of the wastes can lead to adverse impacts to public health, to occupational health and safety, and to the environment. Unfortunately, most economically developing countries suffer a variety of constraints to adequately managing these wastes. Generally in developing countries, few individuals in the staff of the healthcare facility are familiar with the procedures required for a proper waste management program. Furthermore, the management of wastes usually is delegated to poorly educated laborers who perform most activities without proper guidance and insufficient protection. This paper presents some of the most common treatment and disposal methods utilized in the management of infectious healthcare wastes in developing countries. The methods discussed include: autoclave; microwave; chemical disinfection; combustion (low-, medium-, and high-technology); and disposal on the ground (dump site, controlled landfill, pits, and sanitary landfill). Each alternative for treatment and disposal is explained, including a description of the types of wastes that can and cannot be treated. Background information on the technologies also is included in order to provide information to those who may not be familiar with the details of each alternative. In addition, a brief presentation of some of the emissions from each of the treatment and disposal alternatives is presented.
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During 1985, low-level radioactive waste disposal has become a critical concern. The issue has been forced by the threatened closure of the three commercial disposal sites. The medical community has used radioactive isotopes for decades in nuclear medicine, radiation therapy, radioimmunoassay, and biomedical research. Loss of disposal capacity for radioactive wastes generated by these activities, by the suppliers of radioisotopes, and by pharmaceutical companies will have a profound impact on the medical profession.