Gromova, G.A. Some problems relating to the legal regulation of disposal of the medical waste and administrative responsibility for violations regarding disposal of medical waste.

Abstract: The medical waste, which appears in the process of medical and pharmaceutical activities, is potentially hazardous for both the persons working with medical waste and to the environment and health of general public. That is why the issues regarding destruction of waste of medical and prophylactic institutions are quite topical. The article provides theoretical and practical problems regarding responsibility of persons violating the procedure of disposal of the medical waste. The author provides comparative classification of waste depending on the degree of negative influence upon the environment, as provided for in the Federal Law of June 24, 1998 N. 89-FZ "On Production and Consumption Waste", as well as classification of medical waste, as provided for by the Federal Classification of Waste, approved by the Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation N 786 of December 2, 2002 for medical waste (hospitals and medical rehabilitation institutions). The author analyzes the issues of lawfulness of administrative responsibility of persons violating the procedure for treatment of the medical waste, organs not being competent to control over the compliance with the sanitary and epidemiological norms. The author applies comparative legal studies in order to single out differences and general patterns of development of legal matters. Comparative legal method becomes necessary for any scientific legal study, since with its help it becomes possible to develop proposals for the improvement of the current administrative law. Synchronic comparison (limited to short periods of time) involves Russian legal system (domestic comparison), allowing to provide general characteristics of the legal system. Normative comparison involves similar legal norms, legislative acts, terms, definitions, classification. Internal comparison mostly involved the level of the legal norms in the same sphere (mycro-comparison). Methodological basis for this work mostly involves comparative legal method of studies. The article singles out some problems regarding treatment of medical waste and administrative responsibility for the violations in the sphere of disposal of medical waste in Russia, as well as provides analysis of gaps and defects of the Russian legislation in this sphere, developing recommendations for the improvement of the Russian legislation on administrative legal regulation of turnover of medical waste. The issues of administrative legal regulation of turnover of medical waste and administrative responsibility in this sphere are rather topical, ever since the Federal Law “On the Environmental Protection” was amended in 2008. There is an obvious legislative shortcoming in the sphere of treatment of medical waste, causing the guilty organizations to avoid responsibility in this sphere. The absence of definition of “medical waste” legislative provisions of the issues of licensing in the sphere of turnover of medical waste and passports of medical waste, discrepancies between the classification of medical waste and classes of danger under the Federal Law “On Production and Consumption Waste” cause insufficient control regulation of this sphere, as well as incorrect treatment of medical waste. In turn, it allows the institutions avoid responsibility for the violations in the sphere of disposal of medical waste, and raises the level of risks of harming the environment, contamination and traumas among the population in general and employees of the health sphere in particular.

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