The latest from the Wacky World of Climate:
1) Doc presents new study suggesting ‘lowering the flow of anesthetic gas’ in patients to save the planet – 1 hour of surgical anesthesia equivalent to driving as many as 470 miles – Anesthesia the next target in climate battle: Docs suggest reducing anesthesia: Would you suffer to combat climate change?
NY Post: Dr. Mohamed Fayed, a senior anesthetist at Detroit’s Henry Ford Health, made the suggestion during the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ annual conference last Friday in Orlando, Florida. “Global warming is affecting our daily life more and more, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has become crucial,” he said. Dr. Fayed added, “No matter how small each effect is, it will add up. As anesthesiologists, we can contribute significantly to this cause by making little changes in our daily practice — such as lowering the flow of anesthetic gas — without affecting patient care.”
Study press release: “Anesthesiologists can play a role in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming by decreasing the amount of anesthetic gas provided during procedures without compromising patient care, suggests new research being presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ ADVANCE 2023, the Anesthesiology Business Event.” [Climate Depot Note: The American Society of Anesthesiologists’ website appears to have pulled the article. But it is available here. & here. 
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Research notes that inhaled anesthesia accounts for up to 0.1% of the world’s carbon emissions, which are regarded as the primary driver of global climate change. An hour of surgery using an inhaled anesthetic is equivalent to driving as many as 470 miles, according to a 2010 study.
Reuters: Cannabis users may need ‘more than TWICE usual dose’ of anesthesia for surgery – “People who regularly use cannabis may need more than twice the usual dose of anesthesia for surgery, a U.S. study suggests.”
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2) Harvard Medical School Will ‘Integrate Climate Change’ Into M.D. Curriculum
The Harvard Crimson: A Harvard Medical School committee voted last month to embed climate change into the school’s curriculum. … The new climate change curriculum will examine the impact of climate change on health and health inequality, applications of these impacts to clinical care, and the role of physicians and health institutions in arriving at climate solutions. … HMS student Madeleine C. Kline said: “Every student who comes through the Medical School will leave with an understanding of what climate change is and what it means for their patients,” she said. “I think it is going to mean a lot for their patients.”
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American Cancer Society Journal: “Climate change and cancer” – Excerpt: “To date, no studies have estimated the carbon footprint of cancer care…The energy expenditure associated with operating cancer treatment facilities and medical devices, as well as the manufacturing, packaging, and shipment of devices and pharmaceuticals, contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions in cancer care…Some cancer treatment facilities have begun to consider their own carbon footprint and started a process to achieve carbon neutrality.”
Climate Depot’s Morano: “Here is a question for the American Cancer Society: If you need cancer treatment, would you go to a cancer treatment center that was worried about its carbon footprint? Or one that was worried about delivering the best possible modern care?”
Great Reset By Marc Morano – Chapter 12 Excerpt: ‘COVID Lockdowns Morph to Climate Lockdowns’
2022: Operating rooms are the climate change contributor no one’s talking about – Two surgeons-in-training suggest some sustainable solutions for their energy-intensive discipline. ... Cancer care is an obvious target for greener efforts within surgery, Berlin notes, because it often involves intense levels of care over a short period of time. Plus, minimally invasive surgeries that require a lot of energy, including robotic-assisted operations, have become common treatments for cancers ranging from colorectal and uterine cancer to head and neck cancer. A robotic-assisted hysterectomy, for example, produces as much carbon as driving more than 2,200 miles in a car — the equivalent of a road trip from Ann Arbor, Mich., to Los Angeles. … Cancer care is an obvious target for greener efforts within surgery, Berlin notes, because it often involves intense levels of care over a short period of time. But perhaps the broadest way the oncology space could cut down on its greenhouse gas emissions is to change how surgical care is delivered, starting with permanently offering telemedicine.
2022: Association of American Medical Colleges: Hospitals take creative steps to reduce carbon footprint – As medical organizations increase their commitments to reduce greenhouse gases, hospitals report progress through quiet methods like changing anesthesia, fixing valves, and re-sterilizing devices.
WaPo in 2022: Climate change is increasingly viewed as a public health crisis – by Rachel Roubein – June 14, 2022 – Excerpt: For the first time, the American Medical Association adopted a policy declaring climate change a public health crisis. The nation’s largest physician trade group voted yesterday to put its lobbying heft behind policies aimed at limiting global warming and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The AMA will also create a strategy detailing what physician practices and the health-care sector can do to combat climate change. … This comes amid a growing sense that global warming is a threat to the health of people across the globe. And there’s a burgeoning sentiment that the health industry needs to be part of the response. … Here’s why advocates say climate change is a public health threat: Increasing temperatures have led to heat-related illness. Climate change has become a persistent danger to food security. El Niño weather patterns cause about 6 million children to go hungry — and could increase as the planet warms. …
- The National Academy of Medicine launched a public-private partnership to address the health industry’s environmental impact. As of April, more than 110 organizations have joined the effort.
- Last year’s U.N. climate change conference framed the issue as a critical public health problem, our Climate 202 pal Maxine Joselow reported.
- The World Health Organization referred to climate change as “the single biggest health threat facing humanity” in an October special report.
- Health groups — including the AMA, America’s Physician Groups and the American Academy of Nursing — signed onto a 2019 climate change agenda calling the issue “a true public health emergency.”
Even Our Medical Schools Have Gone Crazy Woke – The American Association of Medical Colleges is pushing schools to jump through 89(!) different hoops to ensure they comply with its Diversity, Inclusion, Culture, and Equity (DICE) standards and even climate change policies. … Here’s just a small sample of requirements under these new policies: Diverse, Inclusive, and Equitable Communication – Climate Data Collection and Reporting…
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Global warming cult says surgery patients should receive less anesthesia to save the planet – by: Ethan Huff – (Natural News) Giving patients who are undergoing invasive surgery anesthesia to quell their pain is bad for the planet, according to the cult of climate change. New research presented by Dr. Mohamed Fayed at the recent annual conference of the American Society of Anesthesiologists claims that delivering one hour of surgical anesthesia to a patient is the equivalent of driving a car 470 miles in terms of “greenhouse gas” emissions.
In order to save the planet from global warming, Fayed stated, “lowering the flow of anesthetic gas” to patients is critical. Sure, they will be in a lot more pain, but at least Fayed will no longer have to worry about the polar ice caps melting and possibly flooding his yard. “Global warming is affecting our daily life more and more, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has become crucial,” Fayed is quoted as saying. (Related: In 2019, history professor Juan Cole expressed worry about hurricanes causing Florida to sink because of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “inaction” on climate change.)
“No matter how small each effect is, it will add up. As anesthesiologists, we can contribute significantly to this cause by making little changes in our daily practice – such as lowering the flow of anesthetic gas – without affecting patient care.”
Treating cancer patients is also harming the planet, claims separate study
According to Fayed, patient care will not suffer in any way by reducing the use of anesthesia during surgery. Patients need to suffer through the pain, he suggested, because up to 0.1 percent of the world’s carbon emissions come from anesthesia – and he considers this to be too high.
Treating cancer patients is also contributing to global warming, suggested another study published in the American Cancer Society Journal back in 2020:
“To date, no studies have estimated the carbon footprint of cancer care,” an excerpt from that study reads.
“The energy expenditure associated with operating cancer treatment facilities and medical devices, as well as the manufacturing, packaging, and shipment of devices and pharmaceuticals, contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions in cancer care … Some cancer treatment facilities have begun to consider their own carbon footprint and started a process to achieve carbon neutrality.”
In other words, saving lives is simply too taxing on the planet and must end immediately or else the “boiling” oceans, as Al Gore calls them, will rise and drown us all.
As for the anesthesia issue, Henry Ford Health is already making changes to its regimen by axing the drug desflurane from all operating rooms. The group claims that desflurane produces the most significant carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and thus cannot be allowed for any further use.
To our readers: Would you feel confident receiving care at a place like Henry Ford Health that is more concerned about the climate than with your wellbeing? Would you trust its doctors and nurses to take proper care of you in this context?
The same goes for cancer centers that are more concerned about being “green” than with curing you. Some hospitals are claiming that the robotics and other advanced equipment used to treat cancers use too much energy and are thus too “polluting” to continue using.
One doctor’s “solution” to this problem is to permanently switch to “telemedicine,” which was popularized during the covid scamdemic as a way to “stop the spread.” By treating patients virtually as opposed to in real life, cancer doctors can make their practices more “green” and “environmentally friendly.”
“Here is a question for the American Cancer Society: If you need cancer treatment, would you go to a cancer treatment center that was worried about its carbon footprint? Or one that was worried about delivering the best possible modern care possible?” asks Climate Depot’s Marc Morano.
The latest news about the climate can be found at Climate.news.
Sources for this article include:
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