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wayne566 Wrote: Dec 30, 2012 8:54 PM
There's lies, damned lies, and statistics.
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FletchforFreedom Wrote: Dec 30, 2012 10:08 AM
It's more than that. The countries of the Soviet bloc (and Michael Moore's darling Cuba still does it) got caught listing babies that died as much as a week after birth as stillborn in order to artificially reduce their infant mortality figures (and Cuba is the world leader in abortion in order to keep it lower still). The US is one of the few countries that uses the strictest standard and the US infant mortality rate is driven still higher by herculean efforts to save the life of babies in at -risk circumstances. Still, the primary cause of infant death in the first world is congenital defect over which the doctor has no control. Using the stats as if they justified universal healthcare is nothing but a bald-faced lie.
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dsagar Wrote: Dec 30, 2012 10:04 AM
I read that too. I also read somewhere that Monaco is rated above us -- and Monaco cannot realistically be compared to the United States. It's not even as big as most mid-size cities, and most citizens are fairly wealthy and older. I believe these ratings come from the World Health Organization, and that their first criterion for good health care is that it is government-controlled.
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dsagar Wrote: Dec 30, 2012 10:03 AM
I read that too. I also read somewhere that Monaco is rated above us -- and Monaco cannot realistically be compared to the United States. It's not even as big as most mid-size cities, and most citizens are fairly wealthy and older.
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hvogel Wrote: Dec 30, 2012 8:50 AM
I read the same thing. I think it was in an Ann Coulter column years ago. The upshot is that in the U.S. live birth statistics include many at-risk infants which other first world countries would not count. If all first world countries used the same criteria for counting live births, the U.S. would have one of the lowest, maybe even the lowest, infant mortality rates in the world.
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Editor's Note: Steve Chapman is on vacation. The following column was originally published in August 2009.
The American medical system has the latest technology, the greatest variety of new drugs and unparalleled resources. But anyone who thinks we're getting something great for our dollars inevitably encounters a two-word rebuke: infant mortality.
The United States is the richest nation on Earth, but it comes in 29th in the world in survival rates among babies. This mediocre ranking is supposed to make an irrefutable case for health care reform. If we cared enough to insure everyone, we are told, we would soon rise to...
Health Care and Infant Mortality: The Real Story