#7 - Ilona Hale. MD - The Environmental Impacts of Medicine.

Deprescribe with Shawn Gill

0:00

-32:34

Episode 7 - Deprescribe with Shawn

Jan 06, 2025

Welcome to the seventh episode of Deprescribe. My guest today is Dr. Ilona Hale, MD.

The statistics and evidence detailing the negative environmental impact of pharmaceuticals and our healthcare system.
Strategies and insights on how clinicians can improve their clinical practice to make it more environmentally friendly and sustainable.

Diagnosis: Having an accurate diagnosis and appropriate indication before prescribing medications.
Options: Based on clinical context, try to offer non-pharmacological interventions as first-line therapy when appropriate.
Patients: Include the patient in the decision-making process and empower them to be involved in their treatment plan.
Evidence-Based: Always select evidence-based treatment options—prime clinical example: patients requesting antibiotics for viral infections.
Deprescribe: Always consider optimizing and reducing medications.

61% of the environmental footprint from primary care comes from pharmaceuticals — the medicines we prescribe!
13% alone comes from metered dose inhalers (MDIs).

If you enjoy this podcast and want to support me, there are 2 ways you can for free:

Give this podcast a 5-star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Share this with friends, colleagues, family or anyone you think would enjoy more content and would gain from learning more about deprescribing.

Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or leave a comment.

If you enjoyed this podcast episode, please consider subscribing to the channel and sharing this episode.

Thanks for tuning in. Your support means everything!