Americans Dying Too Soon: U.S. Behind Other Nations In Preventable Deaths

Washington Post:

As Congress presses forward with landmark legislation to revamp the nation's health-care system, lawmakers are grappling with a troubling question:

Are Americans dying too soon? The answer is yes. When it comes to "preventable deaths" -- an array of illnesses and injuries that should not kill at an early age -- the United States trails other industrialized nations and has been falling further behind over the past decade.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[sviolette]

At least we are #1 in costs. Oh wait, that isn't good is it?

[Tim303]

"But we are still number one for the best health care in the world! Oh, wait a minute, we aren't."

[aflyinyoursoup]

I'll bet we're still #1 in Health Insurance and Pharmaceutical Executive compensation....

[loki]

maybe the people just want out of this mess the republicans have left for us to try to clean up. I mean, they make the mess, then they complain and try to set up the people who are working hard to clean up the mess for failure just so they can make themselves feel better about what they did to the country .

[stargazer13]

Oh how I wish we were number 1 again

[ladyearth]

We all know that the GOP is right-to-life. Guess the GOP is only right-to-life before one is born, eh? Since the United States ranks 29th in the world in infant mortality rate, wouldn't one expect the GOP to be begging for health care reform for those thousands of infants born in the United States who do not live to see their first birthday? Make no mistake, folks. The GOP chooses corporate interests over infant health interests. The GOP then campaigns on right-to-life issues for the votes such campaigns produce. Values for the GOP is simply the corporate bottom line.

[helonias]

Luke 16:19-25. "Now there was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, gaily living in splendor every day. And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs would come and lick his sores.
Now it came about that the poor man died and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom.
And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame.'
But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony...'"

[sviolette]

I hate it when people quote the bible as if it even belongs in the conversation. The bible is fiction people.

[Harvee Wallbanger]

Being that the GOP has waged an all out war against the middle class, this surprises me not. In fact I may well be one of their next victims - and so might you.

[brooklyncitizen]

Hate to break it to you both Republicans and Dems have waged this war. They are both corporatists,,,,it's all about the ca$h.

[fcsakes]

Hey, when you have to take the time to make sure all the pieces of paper are signed and cosigned so those gold pieces keep pouring into the bank account before you can render assistance, people die.

[deepsouthfugee]

But we have the best healthcare in the entire world!! USA #1!!

[tklink]

Surely you jest....

[Scarborian]

Try getting your insurance company to pay for preventive care examinations when you don't think there's anything wrong with you. Try going to the ER and asking for a colonoscopy or a mammogram. Try explaining to a Canadian or a German why the Pfizer brand name medication you get in the USA is worth 10 times as much as the same Pfizer brand name medicine they can get in their country.

The USA's self lauded policy of free market capitalism is no more real than a Hollywood set, regulations are routinely used to eliminate competition and to transfer risk from corporations to tax payers. Profit is king and poor people have no money so they don't exist.

[MartyJo]

Pi$$es me off to no end. Rethugs have the audacity to berate the Canadian healthcare and all statistics show we have far superior healthcare than the US... I'm almost embarassed for Americans when those rethug politicians claim that the US has the best healthcare in the world. Pitiful!!

[uvymopka]

Stay at home the next time you get sick then.

[tklink]

The US is #37 in the global list of healthcare; France is #1, England #18 and Canada #30. Canada's system is much more efficient and effective than ours. The problem with America and American's (and I'm one of them) is that we are a very insular country. Most people know very little about other countries and most accept it as truth when we are touted as #1 by the freakishly insane right-wingers. I have traveled extensively and lived in several other countries...even without the global list I can tell you we are not #1. I might also add that ignorant people are the most suseptible to the audacious fear-mondering being perpetrated by Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, (none of these 3 even posses an associate's degree) - Palin, Grassley, Boehner...I could go on. People, smarten up.

[fredamae]

Cannabis Therapeutics/Preventative Medicines IGNORED as MORE than 600,000 Deaths Annually are reported Just from Legal Drugs!

BigPharma deaths account for 106,000
Tobacco 435,000
Medical Errors 250,000
Alcohol 105,000

Why???? When Education and the TRUTH can make an Enormous Impact upon our heath! It is called "Harm Reduction" and it Works.

Are there Any budget dollars committed for This in our Schools, Health Care facilities, Clinics, Pharmacies and etc?

If WE Are Healthy AND Educated about All Substances We consume and Consider Consuming then begin to make Informed Decisions about Substance Consumption, "THEY LOSE" bIg $$$$$$$$$$$$

[surferbuoy]

They have been educating people since 1964 when the surgeon general said smoking is dangerous but people today still smoke. Then there is alcohol, how many alcoholics are there in the US...then there is drug addiction...education material has been out there for years & years & years but people still drink, smoke & do drugs...so what is your point?

[fredamae]

If the WAY the Education is delivered is Not working (are you For ins/health care/BigPharma?) then one must change course!

I am told the "Mother Molecule" in Acetaminophen is DDT. Did You know that? They Never taught me that when I was in school, nor Dr's office, Nor Pharmacy...I NOW consider different options because someone Explained that to me...The INFORMATION itself is Incomplete. Even doctor's don't know the FULL impact of "Safe" drug consumption....So how can They tell us when there is Omissions of Facts?

When was the Last time someone told You there Is No Such thing As A Safe Drug?

[Grannysue]

Well that just can't be right remember every single GOPER and BLUE DOG keep telling us all "we have the greatest healthcare system in the world". What they mean is "if you have money you'll be taken care of".

[sviolette]

We do have the best doctors and best equipped hospitals but 90% of Americans can't afford to use them. They have to get the richest people in the world to come over here for healthcare just to keep these places running.

[TJCole]

No kidding, as if all of us don't know someone who could have been saved if we had decent accessible health care...that's one reason we are 37th according to The W.H.O..!

Of course any nation that lets over 80,000 families per week to be foreclosed upon and evicted could care less about it's people dying especially the same poor or struggling they are evicting..

Profit first that's our Health Care System, the rest is just details....profit over humanity and life...!

[surferbuoy]

Not true, we are 37th because of how we report the numbers compared to the others...everyone in the US has health care...medicare, medicaid, SCHIP, no one can be turned away from a hospital emergency room...what people don't have is health insurance...people in the US don't die because our healthcare is inferior...if I have breast cancer believe me I would rather be here then anywhere else in the world. The same is true for prostrate cancer & many others......if health insurance is the problem then address it....open up across states competition, let people buy inexpensive "basic care" policies or let them by major medical policies.....fix the problems. When healthcare was started the purpose was to get health care for those that didn't have insurance....with all of these bill (5) that are out there, at the end of the say there will still be millions of Americans NOT covered.

[TJCole]

I'm afraid I know way to many who have died because just trying to get any Health Care is almost impossible for them..the system is about profit not Health Care...

Our infant mortality is way down the list...

Maybe it's acceptable for you, but not me hasn't been for many years...

[Icantbelieveher]

The problem with your theory is this. Yes we do have the best health care in the world, but if you don't have insurance, you can't afford to go to the doctor for preventative or early detection. How many people would pay for a mammogram out of pocket? Or any of the costly tests that are necessary for early detection. You can't go to the emergency room for tests just because! By the time people make it to the emergency room, many times they are too far gone to help. That is an disingenuous argument -- and we are paying more for our health care because of the people who visit the costly emergency room because they can't afford to see a doctor, and they can't afford to pay the hospital.

I agree that we have to get every American covered, but the problem with subsidies is that I truly don't want my tax dollars going to the very companies that drove up the health care costs in the first place. It doesn't work to use their 3% profit margin, when a public option wouldn't pay it's administrators $102,000 an hour!

[tklink]

Health insurance has gotten ridiculously expensive (i.e. premiums, deductibles, co-pays and just overall cost of procedures, etc.)and offers much less than ever before. In addition, we have one of the worst track records for preventable illnesses in the developed world. This is not an opinion, it is a fact. Much of this is due to the lack of attention paid to preventive care. We are a morbidly obese people not willing to give up anything that has been proven to harm us. In fact, we not only won't give it up, we want more of it and more often. Nothing will really change until we address our horrible lifestyles. Put down the fast food and cigarattes people - get to a freaking gym! As for not wanting to live anywhere else if you had cancer or some other life-threatening illness, I have lived in several other countries and the myth that "WE'RE #1!!!" is just that...a myth.

[BlueSkyPilot]

Good enough for our "enemies" but not good enough for our citizens?

Once considered the best in the region, Iraq's health system has suffered from years of neglect and war. Diarrhea, measles, respiratory infections, and malaria - compounded by under-nutrition affecting 30 percent of children under five - contribute to excessive rates of infant and child mortality. Lack of care during pregnancy contributes to high maternal mortality rates. Tuberculosis and cholera have re-emerged.

USAID, in partnership with UNICEF and WHO, helped the Ministry of Health (MoH) build capacity to enhance policy, increase access to healthcare, and improve essential services for mothers and children. Technical specialists work closely with communities to increase participation and improve primary healthcare services. USAID spent about $150 million in health projects in Iraq - nearly a quarter of the more than $600 million in health being invested overall by the U.S. government in Iraq.

http://www.usaid.gov/iraq/accomplishments/health.html