Doctor diagnoses patient with ‘climate change’
In an apparent world-first, Canadian ED clinician Dr Kyle Merritt attributed a patient’s worsening asthma to the hottest summer on record
A Canadian doctor has diagnosed a patient with ‘climate change’ after they presented in emergency with asthma exacerbated by continuing poor air quality from bushfires.
In an apparent world-first, the ED specialist says he opted for the diagnosis after days of treating medical conditions triggered by heat and smoke including asthma, heat stress and breathing difficulties.
The province of British Columbia, where he works, experienced its hottest and deadliest summer on record this year.
Almost 600 patients died from heat in under a month in the province alone, according to coroner’s office records.
