I have a St. Jude Heart Valve that is made out of Plastic. I do not drive because of epilepsy but wonder if the casing on medication is related to Oil.
Every time I go to the hospital I notice more and more plastic...;syringes, tubing. stethoscopes etc.
So I know corporate greed and not medical malpractice pay outs, is the greatest medical cost we have.
Has any one seen a study on the corporate divisional cost of medicine.
OK I just thought of another one, radiation, I wonder what the corporate profit is for that?

I have been researching: eia.doe.gov

Petroleum feedstocks have been used in the commercial production of petrochemicals since the 1920's. Petrochemical feedstocks are converted to basic chemical building blocks and intermediates used to produce plastics, synthetic rubber, synthetic fibers, drugs, and detergents. Naphtha, one of the basic feedstocks, is a liquid obtained from the refining of crude oil.


-Nonfuel use of petroleum is small compared with fuel use, but petroleum products account for about 89 percent of the Nation's total energy consumption for nonfuel uses. There are many nonfuel uses for petroleum, including various specialized products for use in the textile, metallurgical, electrical, and other industries. A partial list of nonfuel uses for petroleum includes:


• Solvents such as those used in paints, lacquers, and printing inks
• Lubricating oils and greases for automobile engines and other machinery
• Petroleum (or paraffin) wax used in candy making, packaging, candles, matches, and polishes
• Petrolatum (petroleum jelly) sometimes blended with paraffin wax in medical products and toiletries
• Asphalt used to pave roads and airfields, to surface canals and reservoirs, and to make roofing materials and floor coverings
• Petroleum coke used as a raw material for many carbon and graphite products, including furnace electrodes and liners, and the anodes used in the production of aluminum.
• Petroleum Feedstocks used as chemical feedstock derived from petroleum principally for the manufacture of chemicals, synthetic rubber, and a variety of plastics.

From Fossil Fuels and Modern Medicine

TABLE 1. PETROCHEMICALS USED IN MEDICINE

Phenol, acids and anhydrides, alkanolamines and aldehydes:
Used for: analgesics, antihistamines, antibiotics, antibacterials, sedatives, tranquillizers

Esters and alcohols:
Utilized in process of fermentation to manufacture antibiotics.

Polyethylene glycols, hydroxyethyl celluloses and water-soluble ethylene oxide polymers:
Used as tablet binders and pill coatings.

Other
Essential uses in pharmaceutical products, from aspirin to penicillin molds. Common medications may require ethanol as a solvent to extract the antibiotic agent; polyethylene glycol is used in rectal suppositories; and phenylpropanolamine is used in cough syrups.

Petrochemicals Used in Instruments and Supplies

Use of plastics in all disposables used for maintaining sterile conditions; specialized plastics used in heart valves; common items such as isopropanol (rubbing alcohol); polyethylene and poly-vinyl acetate used in tubing, sheeting, splints, prostheses, blood bags, disposable syringes and catheters.

Sterilization of equipment uses ethylene oxide; ammonium nitrate is a basic ingredient in "quick cold" applications.

Nitrogen mustards have provided a long-standing part of chemotherapy treatment for cancer; propylene glycol is used for obtaining specimens for sputum cytology.

Petrochemicals Used in All Specialties

Petrochemicals are used in radiological dyes and films, dermatological creams, sigmoidoscopes, speculum probes – in endotracheal tubes, intravenous tubing, syringes, and oxygen masks.