I think you have stumbled upon the crux of the issue with a lot of studies related to "gun deaths", etc. Namely, that the only comparison that really matters is to look at the results that come from people choosing from various alternative options. In the case you are commenting on, it is somewhat meaningless to look at deaths that result from medical malpractice alone, as you rightly point out. That data point, alone, is useless to me when I am trying to decide on a course of action. Instead, I need to consider whether I am more or less likely to be better off after visiting a doctor than I would be if I did not visit that doctor. In most cases where I am suffering from a real illness or injury, I believe that I will be better off visiting a doctor, even with the possibility of medical malpractice, so I make an appointment, or show up at the emergency room, depending on the situation.Bitter Clinger wrote: ↑Fri Dec 28, 2018 11:26 amAnd certainly, none of these so-called statistics could possibly be due to the fact that we are overrun with contingency fee liability lawyers just looking to strike it rich without regard to whose life or reputation they destroy? Oh wait, both of your citations were in fact published by just such ambulance chasing blood suckers. Whoopsy daisy!ninjabread wrote: ↑Fri Dec 28, 2018 9:47 ammedical-malpractice-deaths-u-s-exceed-gun-deaths-wide-marginBitter Clinger wrote: ↑Thu Dec 27, 2018 10:00 pmGot a citation to back that up?ninjabread wrote: ↑Thu Dec 27, 2018 6:33 pm According to a recent study, AMA members kill more people in the USA than Al Qaeda members.
A recent study by Johns Hopkins University analyzed eight years of data – which is equivalent to two presidential terms – to look into the problem of medical malpractice in the United States. Turns out, medical malpractice kills at least 250,000 Americans every year, which is a rather modest figure compared to other studies showing that medical malpractice deaths in the U.S. total more than 400,000 a year.
doctors-kill-people-year-preventable-deaths-car-accidents-gunsWhat about guns. School shootings. Terrorism.
That is about 33,000 a year—which is a disgusting number by itself.
But preventable medical errors causing deaths? Almost 7x as many deaths! Approximately 250,00 confirmed fatalities due to preventable medical errors. And some researchers believe that number could be closer to 440,000.
I would advise you to avoid any and all medical care, way too risky. Better off to just die from a curable disease or injury. Oh, and don't even consider a striker fired handgun without an external safety and of course, stay home and off the roads.
Similarly, with gun ownership, it is pointless and irrelevant to look solely at the number of deaths that involve a gun, or even at the number of documented unintentional gun deaths. While those might be interesting data points, they are useless to anyone in deciding whether that person will be more or less safe if they buy a gun. Solitary data points presented alone, and out of context to the larger issues / decisions at hand may be good for stirring up emotions, but that is all they are good for.