Doctors vs. Gun Owners

[Cash Creek]

 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  and  Human Services.

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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 .0000188

Statistics courtesy of FBI


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So,  statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.

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Remember, 'Guns don't kill people, doctors do.'

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FACT:  NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT

Almost everyone has at least one doctor.
This means you are over 9,000 times more likely to be killed by a doctor as by a gun owner!!!

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Please alert your friends to this alarming threat.

We must ban doctors before this gets completely out of hand!!!!!

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O
 

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

Cash Creek, very thought provoking and a little scary at the same time ... Have a doctors appointment this afternoon so will keep a close eye on him for sure.

Got me to wondering so I looked at the total gun related deaths and only found for 2004.  The total number of gun related deaths including homicide was shown to be 29,569 so deaths per gun owner is 0.000369

Makes a person think they need body armor when going to see the Doctor.

[St. George]

This one's pretty old for an erumor - but apparently still has a life of it's own.

From www.truthorfiction.com

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Doctors Are More Dangerous Than Gun Owners-Humorous Fiction!
 

Summary of the eRumor: 

The forwarded email compares the rate of accidental deaths between physicians and gun owners and concludes that rate of accidental deaths per physician is much higher than the rate of accidental deaths per gun owner.
 
 
The Truth: 
This email is obviously the humorous creation of a gun enthusiast.

We don't know when it was written but not all of  the statistics appear accurate. 

According to the U.S. Department of Health Services there were about 780,000 licensed physicians in the United States in 2008, so that figure seems good.

Finding statistics that everybody agrees with regarding deaths caused by doctors is a little more difficult.  Dr. J. Mercola released a book in 2000 titled Doctors are the Third Leading Cause of Death in the US, Causing 250,000 Deaths Every Year.  His breakdown, however, largely focuses on errors in hospitals and includes 12,000 deaths by unnecessary surgery, 7,000 due to medication errors in hospitals, 20,000 due to other errors in hospitals, 80,000 from infections in hospitals, and 106,000 from the negative effects of medications.

Regarding gun owners, according to the National Rifle Association (NRA) 2010 Fact Sheet, they tallied in the U.S. between 70 and 80 million.  The NRA fact sheet also said that there are close to 300 million privately owned firearms in the United States with hand guns counting for nearly 100 million and that somewhere between 40-45% of American households have firearms.

According to the National Rifle Association there were 776 accidental deaths from firearms in 2000, a lower figure than in the email.

That's all interesting to know but the premise of the email is weak and, as we said, mostly aimed toward humor.  Comparing doctor deaths to accidental firearm deaths is meaningless, especially because doctors are dealing with people who are sick in the first place, some of whom are at high risk for death or have gone through high risk medical procedures.

Scouts Out!

 

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[Cash Creek]

Hey...We can't shoot guns all the time ..sometimes we have to laugh..CC

[Tjackstephens]

All a good joke I am sure.  I put a lot of trust in my doctor, if not I would find another doctor. Isn't it great to live in a country where we have such good medical care. With the way the country is going, don't know how long this will be true. Tj

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

All a good joke I am sure.  I put a lot of trust in my doctor, if not I would find another doctor. Isn't it great to live in a country where we have such good medical care. With the way the country is going, don't know how long this will be true. Tj

I also put a lot of trust in my Doctor.  I also put a huge amount of trust in my wife a gun owner.  Now politicians not so much.   

There is a reason why they called statistics "Liars Math" when I went to college.

[TallBaldBellied]

I've heard tell, 'There's lies, damned lies.  And then, there's statistics.'  I could be wrong though.

[Mogorilla]

Wife is a mathematician.  She will tell you 53.6% of statistics are made up on the spot.