Dangerous doctors...

[Moses]

Yet another typical e-mail from one of my close "friends".;

The number of physicians in the U.S. is 700,000

B. Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year are 120,000

C. Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171 per year

Now consider this:

A. The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000.

B. The number of accidental gun deaths per year (all age groups) is 1,500.

C. The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is 0.000188 per year.

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.

NOTE: Out of concern for the public at large, I have withheld the statistics on lawyers for fear the shock would cause people to panic and seek medical attention.

[island911]

"life" is the #1 cause of death.





doc's must be #2

[304065]

Moses,

Can that really be true? That would make accidental deaths roughly 3x the deaths from MVA's. Since we know that virtually nobody lives to be 100, and the population of the USA is approximately 280 million, then we know there are at least 2.8 million deaths. That makes accidental deaths like 4.2% of the annual amount, a huge number.

It puts the whole "Leapfrog group" and CPOE into stark perspective.

[Moses]

Originally posted by john_cramer
Moses,

Can that really be true?

Sure. But the vast majority of those deaths are with the critically ill who are essentially "circling the drain". The patient is in multiple system failure and all the specialist are scrambling to make sure "thier" organ failure isn't the one that kills the patient. Eventually someone aspirates or throws an embolus or the doc isn't quick enough to change meds or check the potassium level and then it's game over. Also, every medication over or underdose is technically a physician error.

If you have any interest in medicine, The House of God , by Samuel Shem is a must read.

[Superman]

I heard that saliva is a carcinogen. But only when taken in small doses over an extended period of time.

[id10t]

A good .sig I saw on /. once said "Life is just a few 'gajillion' atoms that happen to all fell like being you for a while"

[Joeaksa]

My ex-wife did heart transplants for a living and I was the medivac pilot who brought the patients into the hospital.

Its true that you do not want to be operated on early on Monday, late on Friday or anything that is "emergency" but then we rarely have a choice when being wheeled into the ER.

There are good doctors, and there are not so good doctors. Unless you know someone you "pays your money and takes your chances" and hopefully things will work out.

Also remember that there are enough people who die each week to fill a Boeing B-747 from cigarette smoking. Can you imagine crashing one of those puppies each week, losing everyone on board, and the public outcry? Just because smoking is "accepted" is this allowed to occur with few comments.

JoeA

[island911]

Originally posted by island911
doc's must be #2

Looks like I was wrong. . ..

Doc's are #3 cause of death. . . at 250,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes!

(iatrogenic - adj. Induced in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy. Used especially of an infection or other complication of treatment.)

[bryanthompson]

I read that 90% of all people who have gone blind after the age of 85 ate carrots within the last 80 years.

[Karl2bdc]

Yea, but it is one of those...comparing apples to orange things. The number of deaths every year from "properly" taking (according to the bottle) tylenol would astonish you as well, let alone deaths from "properly" taking prescription drugs.

I was raised with guns around the house. One of my father's(Army DI) rules about them was "treat all guns as if they are loaded". Maybe we should treat Docs as if they are loaded too?

[bryanthompson]

What do you call the guy that finished last in his medical class?






doctor

[COLDBASS]

Originally posted by bryanthompson
I read that 90% of all people who have gone blind after the age of 85 ate carrots within the last 80 years.

I read that it was attributed to drinking water...go figure

[legion]

Dihydrogen monoxide is a dangerous chemical:

http://www.dhmo.org/

[Burnin' oil]

My goal today is to use the phrase "Circling the drain" at least three times in conversation.

[dhoward]

As opposed to hanging on the rim.....

[smoak]

I have a friend who finished damn near the bottom of his medical school in the Carribean who is now doing his plastic surgery residency in NYC. Man, I remember he even has the shakes before he has his first beer. I guess its all about if you pass the boards your in. Self tought doctors...let the fun begin.

On another note, I think the best thing to do is sue sue sue. That is always the best remedy for those cold blooded doctor killers. What we need in this country is more lawsuits. And you know, you can't have more lawsuits without.... ding ding ding... More commercials asking for more lawsuits.... On second thought... We need more lawyers. We can't have enought. Why there has to be some available airtime on your local channels. OK. I've got it we need the following:

1. More Carribean trained surgeons.
2. More commercials for plaintiff's personal injury attorneys
3. More local channels to air the commericals.
4. And for gods sake... MORE LAWSUITS to sue the Dr. Don't worry be Happy.

[cmccuist]

There are approximately 120 medical schools in this country. And 15 or so of those are the holistic type (herbs, crystals, alternative medicine etc). So if you assume 200 students in each class and a pretty high graduation rate, this country mints about 20,000 new doctors per year.

44,000 people graduate from law school each year.

No conclusion, just throwing it out there.

[oldE]

Lets look at the flip side. How many people die from the doctor's intent? How many people die in accordance with the intent of the firearm user? I suspect that reverses the trend. Lets demand that doctors intend for their patients to die! That should knock a thousand or so off that psuedo statistic. Hoo boy!
Les

[M.D. Holloway]

Originally posted by Superman
I heard that saliva is a carcinogen. But only when taken in small doses over an extended period of time.

That does it! No more french kissing my wife!

I also heard that the human body actually gives off a certain amount of low level radiation - I'm gonna start sleeping in the guest room, that woman is trying to kill me!