Dangerous
(A) 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.
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.
(C) The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is .000188
Statistics courtesy of the 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, we have withheld the statistics on lawyers for fear the shock would cause people to panic and seek medical attention!
Now some will bring up the fact that there are about 25,000 gun deaths a year total (the number being mainly due to criminals with guns) so the gun rate would go up to 0.00313. Making doctors still 540 times as dangerous as guns.
H/T linearthinker via e-mail
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2 comments:
You equate accidental medical deaths with deaths caused solely by physicians. That is incorrect. Among that estimated 120,000 inappropriate medical deaths per year are deaths due to medication errors (caused by doctors, pharmacists, or nurses), deaths due to improper care in hospitals or nursing homes (caused by doctors, nurses, physical therapists, patient transporters, etc.), and deaths due to faulty medical equipment.
However, I do agree with the main thrust of your story: certain segments of our society inappropriately demonize guns and their owners.
About half of the total number of firearms deaths in the United States are suicides. There is no statistical evidence that reducing access to guns reduces suicides. The US has seen an increase in hangings since the Brady Bill waiting period was imposed; Canada has seen an increase in "suicide by leaping" since the disarming of their law-abiding citizens.
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