Gosh, I wonder if it could be because they aren’t seeing doctors….
Posted by Charles II on January 10, 2013
What profiteth a man if he gain the world and cannot even get decent medical care? Sarah Boseley, The Guardian:
America may be one of the richest countries in the world, but its people are less healthy and more likely to die early from disease or accidents than those in any other affluent country, a damning official US report has found.
Even the best-off Americans – those who have health insurance, a college education, a high income and healthy behaviour – are sicker than their peers in comparable countries, says the report by the US National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine.
“We were struck by the gravity of these findings,” said Steven H Woolf, professor of family medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond and chair of the panel that wrote the report. “Americans are dying and suffering at rates that we know are unnecessary because people in other high-income countries are living longer lives and enjoying better health.
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The US does badly in nine specific areas….highest infant mortality rate …. does poorly on other birth outcomes, such as low weight babies.Deaths from injuries and homicides are far higher than elsewhere and a leading cause of death in children, adolescents and young adults. US adolescents have had the highest rate of pregnancies of affluent countries since the 1990s and are more likely to acquire sexually transmitted infections. The US has the second highest HIV rate and the highest incidence of Aids among the 17 countries.
Even taking out drunk driving, Americans lose more years of life to alcohol and other drugs than people in other affluent countries. The US has the highest obesity rate and, from age 20, one of the highest levels of type 2 diabetes. The death rate from heart disease is the second highest in the 17 countries. There is more lung disease and more deaths from it than in Europe and older people report more arthritis and other limitations on their activity than in Europe or Japan.
I’ll be surprised if the Republicans allow Obamacare to be fully implemented. Killing off Americans is so much more in line with what they do!
3 Responses to “Gosh, I wonder if it could be because they aren’t seeing doctors….”
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Phoenix Woman said
Another shocker: The best hospitals in the US in terms of overall care provided — better than Johns Hopkins, the Mayo, or any other gold-plated establishments — are the ones run by the Veterans Administration. Seriously: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2005/0501.longman.html
The US hospitals run on the profit motive tend to cut corners, one of the biggest being the length of time people are allowed to stay. Then again, with the rise of both filth and antibiotic-resistant infections, staying too long in a hospital isn’t advisable, either.
Charles II said
I also have questions about whether our ethical pharmaceutical system is actually as safe as we have been told or whether they have reduced reporting. I have had an experience that leads me to believe that the FDA is simply not doing its job.
jo6pac said
I’m not sure why you would say that other than it’s just another fed agency that has a revolving door between industry and govt. What’s not to like;) I seem to remember not long ago that these so called govt. agencies did some good for the citizens of Amerika but now are the run by corp.