The American Medical Association (AMA) announced last week that Immediate Past President and public health leader Ronald M. Davis, M.D., 52, died Thursday at his home in Michigan. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last February. Dr. Davis, a preventive medicine physician, served as the 162nd president of the AMA from June 2007 to June 2008. He led the AMA’s focus on preventive medicine and had been a longtime public health and anti-tobacco advocate.
Dr. Davis challenged the medical community to begin to practice “green” medicine - recycling and other ways of controlling medical waste in an ecologically sound manner. Last year, the Arizona Homeopathic and Integrative Medicine Association wrote an open letter to Dr. Davis, as President of the AMA, pledging that we would undertake recycling in our offices.
In our office, the Arizona Center for Advanced Medicine, we make every effort to leave as small an environmental footprint as possible. We designed the office space to be eco-friendly. How can we expect to stay healthy if we breathe toxic materials every day? And how can we possibly expect our patients to get healthy if they have to come to a toxic office space for their appointments? All the office furniture is recyclable and contains no formaldehyde or any other organic outgassing materials. The flooring is made of recyclable materials, without any volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the materials or in the adhesives. We used energy-efficient full-spectrum fluorescent lighting. Our janitors use cleaning products which are free of chlorine, ammonia and chemical fragrances.
We have switched to recyclable glass bottles (in all sizes available) instead of plastic bags for our intravenous treatments. We recycle all our paper and plastic trash. We recycle our printer cartridges. We recycle all our bottled water bottles. I confess that we do use a medical waste disposal company for our needles and any blood-contaminated products or devices.
The office park where my office is located has a huge recycling bin which is used by the entire complex.
Our staff almost always brings lunch to work in recyclable containers. The food they bring is home cooked for the most part. We have no sodas or drinks made with anything artificial in the office. We test for allergies with preservative-free antigen – so that we are not injecting preservatives into our patients. We recommend supplements which contain no additional or artificial ingredients. We hardly ever use pharmaceutical medications, and when we do use them, we generally have them compounded, to keep them free of sugar, artificial sweeteners, other chemicals and food colorings.
Toxicity of any kind produces inflammation, which is the first step toward the development of cancer, a disease of chronic inflammation. You can read about one form of inflammation leading to increased incidence of cancer in the attached article which demonstrates an association between gum disease and cancer.
The longest journey does indeed start with the first step. We, as physicians, have an obligation to teach – in fact that is the definition of “doctor” – a teacher. Let us all pledge to teach healthy living, healing working conditions, healthy foods, healthy environments; and let us teach by example.
Martha Grout, MD, MD(H) has two decades in emergency medicine and a decade in homeopathic medicine. She is Vice-President of the Arizona Board of Homeopathic and Integrated Medicine Examiners. She specializes in chronic diseases and HEG-based brain training. Her environmentally friendly office, the Arizona Center for Advanced Medicine, is in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Martha M Grout, MD, MD(H)
Arizona Center for Advanced Medicine & Clinical Research
9328 E. Raintree Drive
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Tel 480-240-2600
Fax 480-240-2601
