Guns do not kill people, doctors do...

especially if your'e michael jackson? any one else catch that on ATS live?

That just might be the truest statement in awhile...Overall, researchers say, 18,314 people die in the USA each year because they lack preventive services, a timely diagnosis or appropriate care. The estimated death toll includes about 1,400 people with high blood pressure, 400 to 600 with breast cancer and 1,500 diagnosed with HIV.

Among the study's findings is a comparison of the uninsured with the insured:

Uninsured people with colon or breast cancer face a 50% higher risk of death.
Uninsured trauma victims are less likely to be admitted to the hospital, receive the full range of needed services, and are 37% more likely to die of their injuries.
About 25% of adult diabetics without insurance for a year or more went without a checkup for two years. That boosts their risk of death, blindness and amputations resulting from poor circulation.

I know thats a shame. Just figured since ATS brought that up, bring in some old statistics...

Fraid I don't see your point compared to your title. Are you saying it is the Drs that are doing the Killing? At least that is what is in your title.

reply to post by DavidsHope


Just something said on ATS Live and i was thinking about insurance companies...Theres a reason this is general chit chat. Only if doctors could sometimes be pro bono and help out the dying a little more. its not like they dont get paid enough

Guns dont kill people.

Rappers do.

Just commenting on doctors, I believe, correction I know, that many of them are incompetent. I am the person who takes my older relatives to all of their doctors appointments, so I get quite a bit of interaction with them. Usually my grandparents get a second or even third opinion, and more than once these "opinions" and diagnoses were completely different.

I have seen doctors simply ignore life threatening issues as if they weren't a big deal. My grandmother has told me stories dating back 30+ years of horrible things that have happened to our family members because of doctors and hospitals. Her mother died during routine surgery because of a stupid mistake a surgeon made, just as an example. Just a couple of months ago my grandfather had almost a complete blockage in bloodflow in the back of his neck...luckily, after being led on for a while by a doctor saying it was nothing to worry about, he had it looked at by a specialist, and needless to say he just underwent life-saving surgery...He would have had a stroke had it not been done.

Just last week I went to the ER with my grandmother because her blood pressure shot up at first to 190 over something, then up to 209 when I got there. We went to the ER and it had come down to like 180, which is still extremely high for her since she is on multiple medications for high blood pressure...anyway, I was there and saw the staff and doctor treat her like she was crazy and didn't know what she was talking about. They did absolutely nothing.

So the next day she went to her cardiologist, who is a family friend, and he was amazed at their stupidity, and he promptly did something to alleviate her still high blood pressure, which he said was dangerously elevated.

These are just recent examples of what I have personally experienced, not even taking into account all of the others I have seen or heard of in my family. I am appalled, and apparently, and obviously, getting a medical license does not mean you are a good doctor. That is scary if you think about it...The people tasked with saving lives aren't all "good."