Chemical Poisoning in Hospitals

Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice Lawyers, Philadelphia Medical Negligence Law Firm

Raise your hand if you think that a hospital is one of the safest places in the world to be.

If you raised your hand – you would be wrong – dead wrong.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year an estimated two million people contract infections in hospitals and almost 100,000 of them will die. Scary stuff and that doesn't even account for all of the other harming factors such as toxic pesticides and disinfectant fumes, mercury exposure, waste burning in hospital incinerators, and PVC drainage from IVs, are among the poisonous culprits.

Consider the sick, helpless patient with a compromised immune system and then consider the odds they must overcome to get well. First, they came in for another medical reason and now have to battle and prevent the exposure for infections, fumes, and noxious poisons.

PVC intravenous bags and tubing contain the phthalate DEHP, which can leach out of the devices and directly into the bodies of patients receiving blood transfusions. Studies on animals have linked this chemical to birth defects, cancer, and reproductive disorders. DEHP goes directly into newborn babies who have IV lines and receive blood transfusions.

According to Health Care without Harm, hospitals generate more than two million tons of waste each year. In the past, many hospitals simply dumped all waste together and burned it in incinerators creating a toxic source of source of dioxin and other dangerous air pollutants.

Mercury is found in thermometers, blood pressure devices, lab chemicals, cleaners, and other products used in health care. Mercury can affect the brain, spinal cord, kidneys, and liver. Thousands of hospitals have already taken the mercury-free pledge and are choosing safer alternatives; however, not all hospitals have made the safe move yet.

In a health care setting, brominated flame retardants or BFRs are everywhere – in hospital rooms, mattresses, and bedding materials plus furniture cushions, lamp shades, cubicle curtains, privacy curtains, drapery, and window blinds. Electronic equipment, ventilators, and IV pumps have BFRs in the plastic housing. In nearly every area of the hospital from shipping and receiving to the operating rooms, foam packaging is found that contains BFRs. Concentrations of BFRs are absorbed and not easily broken down by the body.

Hospital electronics such as computers, televisions, lab analyzers, EKG monitors and other types of electronic equipment used in hospitals every day contain many hazards from lead in cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors to chlorinated plastics in cable wiring, brominated flame retardants in circuit boards and plastic enclosures, and mercury in LCD displays. These hazardous substances have been linked to human health effects like cancer, birth defects, and hormone disruption.

Dangers lurk everywhere in a hospital from the operating room to the patient room. Do you have a medical malpractice lawsuit?

Source: Health Care without Harm, http://www.noharm.org

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