Doctors Kill More People than Guns Each Year

[Jazzy]

According to a new report, accidental deaths caused by doctor error result in more deaths per year than deaths from guns.



Some supporters of the Second Amendment are using these statistics to fight against the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013.



When comparing statistics from the US Department of Health and Human Services about gun deaths and doctor-related deaths, the numbers are vastly different.



There are around 700,000 doctors in the US. There is an average of 120,000 accidental deaths caused by doctors each year.



In 2011, 11,101 Americans were killed in a homicide, while suicides by use of a gun took 19,766 lives. There were 222 gun deaths in 2011 of an undetermined intent.



America has around 80 million gun owners, and those guns cause about 1,500 accidental deaths. Website Renew America points out that, according to statistics, doctors are 9,000 times more dangerous than guns.



While it is theoretically impossible to compare gun related murder victims to physician related deaths, since physician related deaths are mostly accidental, many gun rights supporters are using the comparison to prove that guns are safer than doctors.

Source



Your thoughts on these stats?

 

[DrLeftover]

You hater, you had the flu shot, you should be feeling the love and wisdom of Our Dear Leader.



How dare you dispute his statements with facts from non-political sources.

 

[Sinon]

While it is theoretically impossible to compare gun related murder victims to physician related deaths, since physician related deaths are mostly accidental, many gun rights supporters are using the comparison to prove that guns are safer than doctors.

And this is why it's not to be taken seriously. If they compared it to accidental deaths with guns, I'd be more inclined to give a damn. But if we're comparing homicides, shouldn't we be comparing it to the number of intended deaths caused by physicians?

 

[DrLeftover]

You mean when a doctor recommends a procedure that he knows damned good and well won't keep the patient alive for a reasonable amount of time?



Such as salvage drugs used for treatment of advanced cancers that do NOTHING to prolong life or to increase the quality of life, but instead only give the patient a false sense of hope?







And just in case you don't believe that there are such things....

http://news.cancerconnect.com/recurrent-ovarian-cancer/

 

[Sinon]

I wouldn't consider salvage drugs to be the same as intentional negligence, so no. Sometimes it's better to have a placebo, than to just be told Nope, you're fucked.



That's a pretty far cry from Fuck this patient, I'm gonna open up an artery in there and pretend nothing happened.

 

[McConnaughay]

Personally, I find this topic a kind-of, Well, no shit! type of thread. No shit doctors kill more than guns, there are millions of people in hospitals and chances are that a good portion of their deaths are accidental. The doctors didn't inject them with the wrongness that brought them to the hospital in the first place, they're trying to keep them alive.

 

[Bluezone777]

I think what it is trying to do is put the number of gun deaths into perspective to show that you are more likely to die in an accident while under the care of a doctor then you are in getting shot to death.



Perhaps it's trying to show that gun violence isn't quite as big of an issue as it is made out to be but that's just my guess.



The whole argument that doctors are less safe then guns is laughable. A doctor when doing things correctly saves lives while a gun used correctly ends them. So tell me again how a gun is safer then a doctor?