Doctors 9,000 Times More Likely to kill than guns owners

[WhiteFeather]

Here is one for the anti-gunners to choke on, ram it down their throats when they talk about gun deaths and needing a law to save a innocent victims life.
Why Doctors Are 9,000 Times More Likely to Accidentally Kill You Than Gun Owners


http://www.mercola.com/2000/may/14/doctor_accidents.htm

Doctors Are The Third Leading Cause of Death in the US, Causing 225,000 Deaths Every Year
This article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is the best article I have ever seen written in the published literature documenting the tragedy of the traditional medical paradigm.

This information is a followup of the Institute of Medicine report which hit the papers in December of last year, but the data was hard to reference as it was not in peer-reviewed journal. Now it is published in JAMA which is the most widely circulated medical periodical in the world.

The author is Dr. Barbara Starfield of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and she desribes how the US health care system may contribute to poor health.

ALL THESE ARE DEATHS PER YEAR:

12,000 -- unnecessary surgery
7,000 -- medication errors in hospitals
20,000 -- other errors in hospitals
80,000 -- infections in hospitals
106,000 -- non-error, negative effects of drugs
These total to 225,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes!!

What does the word iatrogenic mean? This term is defined as induced in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy. Used especially of a complication of treatment.

Dr. Starfield offers several warnings in interpreting these numbers:

First, most of the data are derived from studies in hospitalized patients.
Second, these estimates are for deaths only and do not include negative effects that are associated with disability or discomfort.
Third, the estimates of death due to error are lower than those in the IOM report.
If the higher estimates are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000. In any case, 225,000 deaths per year constitutes the third leading cause of death in the United States, after deaths from heart disease and cancer. Even if these figures are overestimated, there is a wide margin between these numbers of deaths and the next leading cause of death (cerebrovascular disease).

Another analysis concluded that between 4% and 18% of consecutive patients experience negative effects in outpatient settings,with:

116 million extra physician visits
77 million extra prescriptions
17 million emergency department visits
8 million hospitalizations
3 million long-term admissions
199,000 additional deaths
$77 billion in extra costs
The high cost of the health care system is considered to be a deficit, but seems to be tolerated under the assumption that better health results from more expensive care.

However, evidence from a few studies indicates that as many as 20% to 30% of patients receive inappropriate care.

An estimated 44,000 to 98,000 among them die each year as a result of medical errors.

This might be tolerated if it resulted in better health, but does it? Of 13 countries in a recent comparison, the United States ranks an average of 12th (second from the bottom) for 16 available health indicators. More specifically, the ranking of the US on several indicators was:

13th (last) for low-birth-weight percentages
13th for neonatal mortality and infant mortality overall
11th for postneonatal mortality
13th for years of potential life lost (excluding external causes)
11th for life expectancy at 1 year for females, 12th for males
10th for life expectancy at 15 years for females, 12th for males
10th for life expectancy at 40 years for females, 9th for males
7th for life expectancy at 65 years for females, 7th for males
3rd for life expectancy at 80 years for females, 3rd for males
10th for age-adjusted mortality
The poor performance of the US was recently confirmed by a World Health Organization study, which used different data and ranked the United States as 15th among 25 industrialized countries.

There is a perception that the American public "behaves badly" by smoking, drinking, and perpetrating violence." However the data does not support this assertion.

The proportion of females who smoke ranges from 14% in Japan to 41% in Denmark; in the United States, it is 24% (fifth best). For males, the range is from 26% in Sweden to 61% in Japan; it is 28% in the United States (third best).
The US ranks fifth best for alcoholic beverage consumption.
The US has relatively low consumption of animal fats (fifth lowest in men aged 55-64 years in 20 industrialized countries) and the third lowest mean cholesterol concentrations among men aged 50 to 70 years among 13 industrialized countries.
These estimates of death due to error are lower than those in a recent Institutes of Medicine report, and if the higher estimates are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000.

Even at the lower estimate of 225,000 deaths per year, this constitutes the third leading cause of death in the US, following heart disease and cancer.

Lack of technology is certainly not a contributing factor to the US's low ranking.

Among 29 countries, the United States is second only to Japan in the availability of magnetic resonance imaging units and computed tomography scanners per million population. 17
Japan, however, ranks highest on health, whereas the US ranks among the lowest.
It is possible that the high use of technology in Japan is limited to diagnostic technology not matched by high rates of treatment, whereas in the US, high use of diagnostic technology may be linked to more treatment.
Supporting this possibility are data showing that the number of employees per bed (full-time equivalents) in the United States is highest among the countries ranked, whereas they are very low in Japan, far lower than can be accounted for by the common practice of having family members rather than hospital staff provide the amenities of hospital care.
Journal American Medical Association July 26, 2000;284(4):483-5


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DR .MERCOLA'S COMMENT:

Folks, this is what they call a "Landmark Article". Only several ones like this are published every year. One of the major reasons it is so huge as that it is published in JAMA which is the largest and one of the most respected medical journals in the entire world.

I did find it most curious that the best wire service in the world, Reuter's, did not pick up this article. I have no idea why they let it slip by.

I would encourage you to bookmark this article and review it several times so you can use the statistics to counter the arguments of your friends and relatives who are so enthralled with the traditional medical paradigm. These statistics prove very clearly that the system is just not working. It is broken and is in desperate need of repair.

I was previously fond of saying that drugs are the fourth leading cause of death in this country. However, this article makes it quite clear that the more powerful number is that doctors are the third leading cause of death in this country killing nearly a quarter million people a year. The only more common causes are cancer and heart disease.

This statistic is likely to be seriously underestimated as much of the coding only describes the cause of organ failure and does not address iatrogenic causes at all.

Japan seems to have benefited from recognizing that technology is wonderful, but just because you diagnose something with it, one should not be committed to undergoing treatment in the traditional paradigm. Their health statistics reflect this aspect of their philosophy as much of their treatment is not treatment at all, but loving care rendered in the home.

Care, not treatment, is the answer. Drugs, surgery and hospitals are rarely the answer to chronic health problems. Facilitating the God-given healing capacity that all of us have is the key. Improving the diet, exercise, and lifestyle are basic.

Effective interventions for the underlying emotional and spiritual wounding behind most chronic illness are also important clues to maximizing health and reducing disease.

Related Articles:

Medical Mistakes Kill 100,000 per year

US Health Care System Most Expensive in the World

Drug Induced Disorders

[Turbinesaint]

Good article. When my mom was sick, she was sent to Stanford and you'd think that she'd get the best care possible. Basically, she got 8 different doctors coming in to sign her chart so they'd get paid, and she left the hospital in worse condition that when she arrived.

[OneLungMcClung]

Don't blame the Docs.

Big Business is what has ruined medicine. Insurance agencies are the reason its all FUBAR.

Do you really want some $10 per pleeb clerk dtermining whether or not you can have a test that may save your life based upon how expensive that test is????


Sorry to hear about your Mom, Turbine, but are you sure that is why they were signing her chart? How did you get that information?

[Agent Smith]

Originally Posted by OneLungMcClung

Don't blame the Docs.

Big Business is what has ruined medicine. Insurance agencies are the reason its all FUBAR.

Do you really want some $10 per pleeb clerk dtermining whether or not you can have a test that may save your life based upon how expensive that test is????

That's exactly right.

I need to have an MRI done on my head due to some unknown health problems, but my insurance company doesn't think I need it, so they refused the claim.

[D-FENS]

I had a kidney stone last year. I didn't know that's what it was but I knew it hurt like a mother fucker and after going in and out of consciousness from dehydration (lots of puking) for 12 hours to go to the ER. I waited for 1.5 hours before being admitted. They gave me a percocet and a CT scan to determine what it was. I was discharged about an hour later with a prescription for 6 percocets and instructions to pee it out.

Almost $4,000.

Thanks, UPMC!!!

EDIT: I was uninsured at the time.

I am now insured but when seeing a Dr. a while ago, (actually, a Resident). The Doctor coded my visits as something they absolutely were not. I don't really want to go into details but take my word on that it wasn't even remotely related to what they coded it as. Not to mention, I never saw an actual Doctor, just "Residents". Anyways, UPMC refuses to fix or recode it and I am liable for the entirety of the visits as what it was coded as isn't covered by my health plan.

[Wasz]

The health system is scary. The biggest thing I can say is this. Dont be afraid to question people. Question doctors and nurses and anyone else that is seemingly doing something that makes no sense. They have to listen to you its the law.

Even if they are doing something that makes sense ask anyway. Know what is happening and why its happening. Its just good sense to want to understand what people are doing to your body.

[OneLungMcClung]

Originally Posted by Wasz

The health system is scary. The biggest thing I can say is this. Dont be afraid to question people. Question doctors and nurses and anyone else that is seemingly doing something that makes no sense. They have to listen to you its the law.

Even if they are doing something that makes sense ask anyway. Know what is happening and why its happening. Its just good sense to want to understand what people are doing to your body.

As a future nurse I have to say this:

I TOTALLY AGREE.

It's not that you shouldn't trust them, but you, the patient,have the RIGHT to be safe during the administration of medical services. Safe from accidents, safe from rip-offs, safe from failed representation.

Medical professionals are supposed to be your advocates, especially nurses, but please understand that Big Insurance has ruined this industry.

Mistakes. They get made. We are trained to an extraordinary level, but we are still human. FYI: On my "dosages tests", which is a test about how to administer medications in the right amount/time, you should know that it is Pass/Fail. And the passing Grade: 100%. Anything less is a fail. Out of 50 questions, if I get 1 wrong, that is normally an A+ (98%). Here it is a fail grade. That's because mistakes with meds are not ok - people can die. So we are trained well; but please remember that you will likely encounter stressed out hospital staff who are being pushed for time and money by uncaring beancounters who have reduced you, the patient, to a number and a cost.

If someone in the medical field does something that you don't understand or is unusual/not your normal routine, you have the right to question them.
And you don't have to be harsh or judgemental - simply saying "Nine pills? Normally I get four." or "The medicine is liquid this time? Normally I get pills" is a-ok.

If someone in the medical field is doing something that is normal, ask anyway. You have the right to be educated on what is being done to you.

A story:
My Dad is a Doctor. When My Grandmother went in for a right knee replacement at 87 y.o., he took a marker and wrote on her left knee "NOT THIS ONE!!!" It's true - and he isn't being disrespectful.


You have the right to be safe. We're not out to kill you or rob you blind. Understand that the industry is corrupt...not the workers.

[WhiteFeather]

Here is another part of the reasons doctors are so dangerous.
Seems like we should have more "Common Sense" laws controlling Doctors practices, while not everyone owns a firearm, almost everyone has a doctor.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/usa_doctors_incompetence_dc

Half of U.S. doctors mum about incompetence: survey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly half of all U.S. doctors fail to report incompetent or unethical colleagues, even though they agree that such mistakes should be reported, researchers said on Monday.

They found that 46 percent of physicians surveyed admitted they knew of a serious medical error that had been made but did not tell authorities about it.

"There is a measurable disconnect between what physicians say they think is the right thing to do and what they actually do," said Eric Campbell of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, who led the survey.

Doctors are also surprisingly willing to order unnecessary -- and often expensive -- tests such as magnetic resonance imaging or MRI scans. Just 25 percent said they were looking out to ensure they did not unintentionally treat someone differently because of their sex or race, the survey found.

In 2000, the U.S. Institute of Medicine reported that up to 98,000 people die every year because of medical errors in hospitals alone.

Campbell and colleagues surveyed more than 1,600 physicians in 2003 and 2004 for their report, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Up to 96 percent of those surveyed said they should report all instances of significant incompetence or medical errors to the hospital clinic or to authorities. The exception was among cardiologists and surgeons, with just about 45 percent agreeing.

And 85 percent of most doctors said they should tell patients or relatives about significant errors.

But this did not translate into practice.

Forty percent of the doctors said they knew of a serious medical error in their hospital group or practice but 31 percent admitted they had done nothing about it at least once.

Doctors also did not always practice what they preached ethically. While 93 percent of doctors said they should provide care regardless of a patient's ability to pay, only 69 percent actually accepted uninsured patients who cannot pay.

LETTING COMPETENCE SLIDE

While most of the doctors agreed they needed to keep up with changes in the profession and have their competence reviewed, only 31 percent had undergone a competency review in the past three years.

Dr. James Thompson, chief executive officer of the Federation of State Medical Boards, said one problem may be that doctors know there is not much that can be done to help doctors who are struggling to be competent.

"There are very few places where they can send them for remediation," Thompson told a news conference.

And medical boards may not have the resources to punish errant doctors.

"There are restrictions on state medical boards that inhibit their ability to go after physicians aggressively," Thompson said.

"There are state medical boards that don't even have their own teams of investigators," he added. "There are state medical boards that are, quite frankly, underfunded and understaffed."

But he said medical boards cannot act unless someone reports a problem doctor.

"State medical boards only react to complaints -- they are not a policing agency," Thompson said.

(Editing by Will Dunham and John O'Callaghan)

[MrUgly]

I'm posting this here as I didn't want to start a new thread on the same topic. The thread so far has been sort of a downer, so allow me to inject a bit of humor:

FACTS TO PONDER :

(A) The number of physicians in the U.S. is
700,000.
(B) Accidental deaths caused by Physicians
per year are
120,000.
(Calculation) Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171
Statistics courtesy of U.S. Dept of
Health Human Services.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Now think about this:
Guns:
(A) The number of gun owners in the U.S.
is 80,000,000. (Yes, that's 80 million..)
(B) The number of accidental gun deaths
per year, all age groups, is 1,500.
(Calculation) The number of accidental deaths
per gun owner is .000188
Statistics courtesy of FBI
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
So, statistically, doctors are approximately
9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Remember, "Guns don't kill people, doctors do."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

FACT: NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN,
BUT ALMOST EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Please alert your friends
to this alarming threat.
We must ban doctors before this gets completely out of hand!!!!!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Out of concern for the public at large,
I withheld the statistics on lawyers
for fear the shock would cause people to panic and seek medical attention.