The public sector should pay if EU demands efficient removal of pharmaceuticals from wastewaters, according to researchers at the Center for Antibiotic Research, CARe, at the University of Gothenburg. Their argumentation analysis, published in the journal Public Health Ethics, raises important questions of responsibility.
Therefore, determining who should manage risks and bear the cost for more advanced wastewater treatment is a critical question. In the European Union, the guiding principle is that the polluter should pay, but researchers at CARe conclude that it would be more reasonable to let costs be borne by water consumers or taxpayers rather thanThe European Union is expected to impose requirements for more efficient removal of pharmaceuticals at all major municipal treatment plants in Europe.
Pharmaceuticals are different from most other goods. Supranational systems approve them, states subsidize them, and regional councils and doctors decide on prescriptions before individuals can use them. Both society and individual consumers demand pharmaceuticals and thus contribute to emissions in different ways. Therefore, the justification for placing the burden of potential sewage purification solely on the manufacturer of a medicine can be questioned.If pharmaceutical companies are compelled to bear the costs of advanced sewage treatment, there is a substantial risk that, for purely economic reasons, they would rather refrain from selling medications in a given region.
"The consequences of sales halts would, in many cases, be devastating for national health care. On average, it takes more than a decade for a new medicine to reach the market, and it often costs more than one billion euro. Developing 'green' pharmaceuticals is thus not a viable solution, except perhaps in the very long term," says Professor Joakim Larsson, Center director of CARe.
for others. Within the hybrid framework, it matters less who causes the problem, and the focus is on solutions.
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