Medical Wastes Need Fast Action

In an odd sort of way, San Diego may benefit from the East Coast’s experience with medical wastes washing ashore last summer. When health officials there were forced to close beaches in the midst of a major heat wave, national attention quickly focused on the problem of medical waste disposal.

This gave local officials a bit of a head start when the problem hit San Diego County beaches last month. In the last three weeks, nearly 20 batches of medical waste have been found on the beaches, compared with only two in the previous six months. Illegally dumped wastes also showed up at a landfill.

The source of much of the waste washing ashore, which has included a vial of blood, an intravenous bag, and syringes and needles--none of it infectious--remains a mystery. But reaction to the problem has been swift.

Tri-City Hospital, which was the source of the waste at the county landfill, said that it had tightened procedures for dealing with wastes.

The Navy has assigned a medical officer and a supply officer to help trace the wastes, some of which have been linked to the military.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors, at the urging of Supervisor Susan Golding, moved quickly to draft an ordinance requiring that all medical wastes be sanitized before disposal or sent to a special landfill. This would close a loophole in state law, which covers only medical institutions that produce more than 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of waste a month.

Golding also proposed that the county form a task force to review disposal procedures and current fines.

Both the task force and the ordinance, which would apply only to unincorporated areas of the county, make good sense. The county’s 18 cities should adopt similar ordinances.

More importantly, the loophole in state law needs to be closed. This is one of the topics to be considered by a task force on medical wastes recently put together by the state Department of Health Services. Another question that the state will be addressing is whether state law covers medical waste disposal by military installations.

The state task force should also look at the system for tracking infectious medical wastes from production to disposal that Congress recently directed the federal Environmental Protection Agency to develop. The system will be mandatory in only 10 states, not including California, but could be applied nationwide if other states decide to have their medical wastes covered by the plan.

Once the task force has formulated its recommendations, local legislators could do the county and the state a favor by playing an active role in implementing improvements in state law.