Gun Control? Is That Necessary?
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Report, in 2010 a total of 12,996 were
killed by firearms.
Bad right? With all of the recent
discussion regarding the danger of guns, guns should be our No. 1 concern,
right?
Do you know that guns are NOT the leading cause
of pre-mature deaths in the US? Guns are, indeed, way down on the list of
circumstances that cause premature deaths in the US.
The
five (5)
leading causes of death in the US are below:
1. Heart
disease: 599,413
2. Cancer:
567,628
3. Chronic
lower respiratory diseases: 137,353
4. Stroke
(cerebrovascular diseases): 128,842
5. Accidents
(unintentional injuries): 118,021
6. Medical mistakes by
healthcare providers (medical malpractice): 98,000+
15. Gun-related deaths
(accidents and intentional): 12,996
The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) seminal study of preventable medical
errors estimated as many as 98,000 people die every year at a cost of
$29 billion. If the Centers for Disease Control were to include preventable
medical errors as a category, these conclusions make it the sixth leading cause
of death in America.
Further research has confirmed the extent of medical errors. The
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that there were 181,000 severe
injuries attributable to medical negligence in 2003. The Institute for
Healthcare Improvement estimates there are 15 million incidents of medical harm
each year.
HealthGrades, the nation’s leading healthcare rating organization, found that Medicare patients who experienced a patient-safety incident had a one-in-five chance of dying as a result.
In the decade since the IOM first shined a light on the dismal state of patient safety in American hospitals, many proposals for improvement have been discussed and implemented. But recent research indicates that there is still much that needs to be done.
Researchers at the Harvard School of Medicine have found that even today, about 18 percent of patients in hospitals are injured during the course of their care and that many of those injuries are life-threatening, or even fatal.
The Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that one in seven Medicare patients are injured during hospital stays and that adverse events during the course of care contribute to the deaths of 180,000 patients every year.
Ban doctors? Please.
Guns are dangerous weapons, but it is not GUNs that kill
people. People kill people.
Cars are dangerous, but cars do not kill people. Careless
and inattentive drivers do.
Heart disease is by far no. 1. Are french fries and
burgers dangerous? Well, in this circumstance they are.
But the foods are not at fault. Poor food choices are the cause.
You can’t blame the guns, the cars or the food. You can only blame the people who abuse them or use them intentionally or carelessly, and cause harm to others.
Everyone, have a safe New Year.