Doctors Are The Third Leading Cause of Death

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

I just found the best web site for medical and diet information,

www.mercola.com . The article below published in one of our most

prestigious medical journals (JAMA) is very insightful about the

present condition of our medical care. The statistics counter the

arguments of those who are so enthralled with the perception that

the USA has such a good system. These statistics prove very clearly

that the system is not working. It is broken and is in desperate

need of repair.

Jean

The following is Dr. Mercola's summary of the JAMA article:

" Doctors Are The Third Leading Cause of Death in the US, Causing

250,000 Deaths Every Year "

This article in the Journal of the American Medical Association

(JAMA) is the best article I have ever seen written in the published

literature documenting the tragedy of the traditional medical

paradigm.

This information is a followup of the Institute of Medicine report

which hit the papers in December of last year, but the data was hard

to reference as it was not in peer-reviewed journal. Now it is

published in JAMA which is the most widely circulated medical

periodical in the world.

The author is Dr. Barbara Starfield of the s Hopkins School of

Hygiene and Public Health and she desribes how the US health care

system may contribute to poor health.

ALL THESE ARE DEATHS PER YEAR:

12,000 -- unnecessary surgery

7,000 -- medication errors in hospitals

20,000 -- other errors in hospitals

80,000 -- infections in hospitals

106,000 -- non-error, negative effects of drugs

These total to 250,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes!!

What does the word iatrogenic mean? This term is defined as induced

in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy. Used

especially of a complication of treatment.

Dr. Starfield offers several warnings in interpreting these numbers:

First, most of the data are derived from studies in hospitalized

patients.

Second, these estimates are for deaths only and do not include

negative effects that are associated with disability or discomfort.

Third, the estimates of death due to error are lower than those in

the IOM report.

If the higher estimates are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic

causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000. In any case, 225,000

deaths per year constitutes the third leading cause of death in the

United States, after deaths from heart disease and cancer. Even if

these figures are overestimated, there is a wide margin between

these numbers of deaths and the next leading cause of death

(cerebrovascular disease).

Another analysis concluded that between 4% and 18% of consecutive

patients experience negative effects in outpatient settings, with:

116 million extra physician visits

77 million extra prescriptions

17 million emergency department visits

8 million hospitalizations

3 million long-term admissions

199,000 additional deaths

$77 billion in extra costs

The high cost of the health care system is considered to be a

deficit, but seems to be tolerated under the assumption that better

health results from more expensive care.

However, evidence from a few studies indicates that as many as 20%

to 30% of patients receive inappropriate care.

An estimated 44,000 to 98,000 among them die each year as a result

of medical errors.

This might be tolerated if it resulted in better health, but does

it? Of 13 countries in a recent comparison, the United States ranks

an average of 12th (second from the bottom) for 16 available health

indicators. More specifically, the ranking of the US on several

indicators was:

13th (last) for low-birth-weight percentages

13th for neonatal mortality and infant mortality overall

11th for postneonatal mortality

13th for years of potential life lost (excluding external causes)

11th for life expectancy at 1 year for females, 12th for males

10th for life expectancy at 15 years for females, 12th for males

10th for life expectancy at 40 years for females, 9th for males

7th for life expectancy at 65 years for females, 7th for males

3rd for life expectancy at 80 years for females, 3rd for males

10th for age-adjusted mortality

The poor performance of the US was recently confirmed by a World

Health Organization study, which used different data and ranked the

United States as 15th among 25 industrialized countries.

There is a perception that the American public " behaves badly " by

smoking, drinking, and perpetrating violence. " However the data does

not support this assertion.

The proportion of females who smoke ranges from 14% in Japan to 41%

in Denmark; in the United States, it is 24% (fifth best). For males,

the range is from 26% in Sweden to 61% in Japan; it is 28% in the

United States (third best).

The US ranks fifth best for alcoholic beverage consumption.

The US has relatively low consumption of animal fats (fifth lowest

in men aged 55-64 years in 20 industrialized countries) and the

third lowest mean cholesterol concentrations among men aged 50 to 70

years among 13 industrialized countries.

These estimates of death due to error are lower than those in a

recent Institutes of Medicine report, and if the higher estimates

are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from

230,000 to 284,000.

Even at the lower estimate of 225,000 deaths per year, this

constitutes the third leading cause of death in the US, following

heart disease and cancer.

Lack of technology is certainly not a contributing factor to the

US's low ranking.

Among 29 countries, the United States is second only to Japan in the

availability of magnetic resonance imaging units and computed

tomography scanners per million population.

Japan, however, ranks highest on health, whereas the US ranks among

the lowest.

It is possible that the high use of technology in Japan is limited

to diagnostic technology not matched by high rates of treatment,

whereas in the US, high use of diagnostic technology may be linked

to more treatment.

Supporting this possibility are data showing that the number of

employees per bed (full-time equivalents) in the United States is

highest among the countries ranked, whereas they are very low in

Japan, far lower than can be accounted for by the common practice of

having family members rather than hospital staff provide the

amenities of hospital care.

Journal American Medical Association July 26, 2000;284(4):483-5

DR .MERCOLA'S COMMENT:

Folks, this is what they call a " Landmark Article " . Only several

ones like this are published every year. One of the major reasons it

is so huge as that it is published in JAMA which is the largest and

one of the most respected medical journals in the entire world.

I did find it most curious that the best wire service in the world,

Reuter's, did not pick up this article. I have no idea why they let

it slip by.

I would encourage you to bookmark this article and review it several

times so you can use the statistics to counter the arguments of your

friends and relatives who are so enthralled with the traditional

medical paradigm. These statistics prove very clearly that the

system is just not working. It is broken and is in desperate need of

repair.

I was previously fond of saying that drugs are the fourth leading

cause of death in this country. However, this article makes it quite

clear that the more powerful number is that doctors are the third

leading cause of death in this country killing nearly a quarter

million people a year. The only more common causes are cancer and

heart disease.

This statistic is likely to be seriously underestimated as much of

the coding only describes the cause of organ failure and does not

address iatrogenic causes at all.

Japan seems to have benefited from recognizing that technology is

wonderful, but just because you diagnose something with it, one

should not be committed to undergoing treatment in the traditional

paradigm. Their health statistics reflect this aspect of their

philosophy as much of their treatment is not treatment at all, but

loving care rendered in the home.

Care, not treatment, is the answer. Drugs, surgery and hospitals are

rarely the answer to chronic health problems. Facilitating the God-

given healing capacity that all of us have is the key. Improving the

diet, exercise, and lifestyle are basic.

Effective interventions for the underlying emotional and spiritual

wounding behind most chronic illness are also important clues to

maximizing health and reducing disease.

Author/Article Information

Author Affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management,

s Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Md.

Corresponding Author and Reprints: Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH,

Department of Health Policy and Management, s Hopkins School of

Hygiene and Public Health, 624 N Broadway, Room 452, Baltimore, MD

21205-1996 (e-mail: bstarfie@...).