Re: MD the metaphysics of free-enterprise

From: Arlo Bensinger (ajb102@psu.edu)
Date: Wed Jul 28 2004 - 18:14:26 BST

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    Hi All,

    Just thought I'd share (for those of you who haven't seen it) a CNN news
    report from today on the great high-quality medical system in the U.S.

    Headling on CNN.com this morning:

    "Study: Hospital errors cause 195,000 deaths"

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- As many as 195,000 people a year could be dying in
    U.S. hospitals because of easily prevented errors, a company said Tuesday
    in an estimate that doubles previous figures.

    Lakewood, Colorado-based HealthGrades Inc. said its data covers all 50
    states and is more up-to-date than a 1999 study from the Institute of
    Medicine that said 98,000 people a year die from medical errors.

    ....

    "If the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's annual list of leading
    causes of death included medical errors, it would show up as number six,
    ahead of diabetes, pneumonia, Alzheimer's disease and renal disease,"
    Collier said.

    I'm not making claims on the privatization/socialization argument, but I
    find it an interesting addendum to Platt's UK Sun story upon which the
    "low-quality" of socialized medicine was blamed.

    Arlo

    >Headline in the UK Sun newspaper this morning:
    >
    >"Filthy NHS wards kill 5,000 a year."
    >
    >In the story, the reasons for this sorry record in Briton's socialized
    >medicine system are that doctors, nurses and cleaners "not washing their
    >hands properly" Also, "Many were overworked and found it hard to maintain
    >standards." Furthermore, "Generally unclean hospitals, too few isolation
    >units and patients frequently being shifted around all added to the spread
    >of the bugs."
    >
    >Kerry and Hillary want a similar low quality system for the U.S.
    >
    >Thanks, but no thanks.
    >
    >Platt

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