Doctors are the 3rd Leading Cause of Death in the United States - Only the Tip of the Iceberg

[Guest guest]

Doctors Are The Third Leading Cause of Death

in the US, Causing 225,000 Deaths

Every Year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This article comes from the Journal of the American

Medical Association (JAMA) and is one of the best articles I have ever seen

written that documents the tragedy of modern medicine and the failure of

allopathic methods and their symptomatic approach to healing.

The author is Dr. Barbara Starfield of the Johns

Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and she describes how the US

health care system contributes to poor health.

Your’s in Health, Freedom, and Love,

Doc

Ian “Doc” Shillington

727-447-5282

DocShillington

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.”

 

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

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Doc: Years ago (very early 80s or very late 70s) there was an article in Prevention magazine (before the magazine became pro medico) about an Israeli Doctor's strike. The mortality rate declined during this strike. Also, dr. Andrew Weil who is pro alternative treatments most of the time even says to stay away from orthodox medicine for cancer, auto immune diseases, wasting diseases etc. He says medicos are great about sewing you up and treating traumas, but for actual disease states they are useless.

Get your own web address for just $1.99/1st yr. We'll help. Small Business.

[Guest guest]

Also: Do not forget: 80,000 -- infections in hospitals If you get one of these infections, the treatments are YOUR financial responsibility, not the hospital's. 106,000 -- non-error, negative effects of drugs If you have a side effect: The treatment again

is YOUR financial responsibility!

Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min.

[Guest guest]

Only 3rd? I would have

thought it would a bit closer to 1. Thanks for the article.

 

 

Namaste'

Benita

 

 

 

Dr. Ian Shillington

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

11:16 AM

 

 

 

 

Doctors Are The Third Leading Cause of Death in the US,

Causing 225,000 Deaths

Every Year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

You're welcome Benita.

Actually, there is a lot more data that was not published and as the title infers, it is "Only the Tip of the Iceberg".

:-)

Doc

 

Doc Shillington727-447-5282Doc

 

-

Ladycraft

herbal remedies

Tuesday, September 05, 2006 6:14 PM

RE: Herbal Remedies - Doctors are the 3rd Leading Cause of Death in the United States - Only the Tip of the Iceberg

 

 

 

 

Only 3rd? I would have thought it would a bit closer to 1. Thanks for the article.

 

 

Namaste'

Benita

 

Dr. Ian ShillingtonTuesday, September 05, 2006 11:16 AM

 

 

 

Doctors Are The Third Leading Cause of Death in the US, Causing 225,000 Deaths Every Year