I found this little titbit, Very funny but interesting comparison.

Quote

Doctors vs. Gun-owners

Doctors

(A) The number of physicians in the U.S. is 700,000.

(B) Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year are 120,000.

(C) Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171.

Statistics courtesy of U.S. Dept of Health Human Services.

Now think about this:

Guns

(A) The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000. (Yes, that's 80
million)

(B) The number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is 1,500.

(C) The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is .000188.

Statistics courtesy of FBI


So, statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous
than gun owners. Remember, 'Guns don't kill people, doctors do.'

FACT: NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT ALMOST EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR.

Please alert your f riends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors
before this gets completely out of hand!!!!!

UNQUOTE


phil

Ah, but we Ozzian's do not want to go the path of the Mericans.. where everybody got guns and killin evrybody else..

Seriously, yeah the ABOVE statistic does looks scary.
However as a thinking individual, we got to look at statistic as a whole,
not just the part we want to look at.
Accidental versus deliberate killing are both entered in the statistic.

So how many death by doctor as a whole (both accidental and deliberate)?

gelandangan a very very good Question hmm !!!!

phil

Pretty sure my doctor would qualify as an 'ass-ult' weapon.

My wallet used to be hi-capacity but it keeps getting detached from me and emptied.

Not to mention the ol' 'plug in the tube' every couple of years and the '10 day waiting period' for the results.

My guns have been way nicer to me than my sawbones has!

stovepipe wrote:

Not to mention the ol' 'plug in the tube' every couple of years and the '10 day waiting period' for the results.

Cheers, Vince

gelandangan wrote:

Ah, but we Ozzian's do not want to go the path of the Mericans.. where everybody got guns and killin evrybody else..

Gelan, just to out this in perspective... In 2007 in the U.S. there were 14,831 murders (0.005% of the population). Of these 10,086 involved firearms (68% of murders but approximately 0.003% of total firearms). Source is the FBI Uniform Crime Reports.

The US rate is higher than Australia's, which in 2005-2006 study year had 283 murders (0.001% of the population), 42 (14.8%) of which were by criminals using firearms. Source is Australian Institute of Criminology.

Studies done by the New York Times and the Chicago Police Dept. show that 90% of murderers have prior CONVICTIONS, with an average of 6. Also 65% of murder VICTIMS have prior convictions. Most murders in the US are criminals killing other criminals. Seems to me that the problem is the "legal system" not firearms. In Australia 66% of murderers and 37% of murder victims have prior criminal histories. Source is AIC.

Defensive use of firearms in the US is estimated as high as 2.5 million/year, source "Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense with a Gun" by Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz. The US Dept. of Justice says its 2005 survey indicated about 477,000/year. In just over 90% of these incidents no one was injured. I can't help but note that my family has used guns to deter crimes a couple times and those incidents weren't reported.

Pumps,

I do not dispute the statistic, but if someone trying to bring out a "FACT" that doctors are more dangerous than guns, then I am here to dispute the "fact".

Same thing happen if someone trying to tell me that death by guns is higher than death by automobile (accidents or otherwise).
I will also dispute this "fact".
You see, both are tools (guns and cars) and to use them both require a certain level of competence.
But the fact that both tools for a wide range of used do not cover the fact that both are liable for death (accidental or otherwise)

I am with the gun owners, but I do not like the slander to important members of society on the first post above.

I think I am confusing myself... I need more rest before I get my next beer..

I know that I would much rather go to the gun store than the doctors office. The gun store might be more expensive but it is less painful.

Less painful-yes(gunstore),less expensive also-I"ve paid about $10k in the past year on doctor bills for a shoulder injury while waiting for an insurance claim.I wish that I had spent that on a few visits to the gun store!

phill21 wrote:

(B) Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year are 120,000.

Has anyone every given a source for that number (other than trial lawyers)?

Hey Gelandangan,
If you don't want to pick on doctors then how about hospitals (a doctors tool).
15,000 Aussies go in but never come out per annum due to an unrelated cause of them going in.
So if its not the doctors killing them . Who is?

I have a bad leg because of an operation gone wrong.
It put me on SS Disability.
All of the hunting and shooting that I have done all of my life never put me down like the good Doctor Stoltenberg did.

I think that you might have something there Phill.

Eric

I only have 60% use of my left arm because of a doctor not doing surgery on it right away like he should have. Instead he waited for 3 months after it should've been done and decided maybe he should do it, of course by then there was irrepairable damage done. 3 years later and I still have a lot of pain but refuse to take pain meds.

Then there's me. I've had two stapedectomies (one in each ear). 100% recovery of hearing. Without doctors I would be deaf. Yup...There a few (more then should be) that have bad experiences with doctors. And I've seen some butchers too...

All I can say is that you really do not know the half of it. I write malmed or for the layman, medical malpractice insurance. Just hope you have a doctor that is, because he or she cares and not one that is in it for the bucks. Most care, some do not, and the don'ts are a real problem in my opinion.

My doctors both shoot and own guns, they also care a great deal.
Best,
Ed