4 ms·

For anybody else curious about actual numbers... In 2013 it was 505 deaths due to negligent handling (vs 11,208 homicides and 21,175 suicides). I'm not able t

by 542458 10y ago

For anybody else curious about actual numbers... In 2013 it was 505 deaths due to negligent handling (vs 11,208 homicides and 21,175 suicides). I'm not able to find any numbers for accidental Aspirin overdose specifically. NSAID use in general kills about 16,500 people yearly, but that number includes drugs other than Aspirin and doesn't differentiate accidental overdose vs suicides or complications from use as prescribed.

zepto 10y ago
Those numbers suggest that the two problems are in very much the same ballpark. Conservative estimates suggest that 1 in 3 Americans own guns. A mandatory training every other year would be an approx $2Bn program annually. (Based on $50 per person per class including administration, which seems very conservative to me) It seems obvious that if you had $2Bn per year to spend on preventing avoidable deaths, this would be an extremely low priority.
- brewdad 10y ago
  You are neglecting the medical costs of treatment prior to death and also treating those who are injured by guns but not killed. I don't know the exact numbers but I have to imagine that $2bn worth of gun safety courses comes pretty close to paying for itself when all costs are included.
  - zepto 10y ago
    It's absurd to suggest that it costs $2bn to treat 500 people who die of their injuries. If you don't have numbers to back up the idea that that injuries soak up the rest of the expense then I'm just going to call it and say your imagination is flat out wrong. Most gun related deaths are not accidents, and wouldn't be presented by safety classes.
- DamnYuppie 10y ago
  That would then become a defacto gun owner registration system. Good luck getting that passed!
  - AmIFirstToThink 10y ago
    Why just owner database? Such registration would create two classes of citizenry, current gun owners who have guns without having cleared the tests, and another class of people that are first time gun buyers who can't buy guns without first clearing the test. To make it fair to first time gun buyers, then the process would become a "gun round-up, education, certification and reclaim you gun" process. Good luck passing that!
thomnottom 10y ago
I was curious about the NSAID number. Doing some quick research I came across this quote: "Mortality reported with NSAID use is generally linked to NSAID-associated GI bleeding, and the reported incidence is quite variable. Much of the literature reports 16,500 deaths annually as a result of NSAID-induced GI bleeding. However, it is important to put this number into perspective. This estimate was published in a 1999 observational study evaluating data from the Arthritis, Rheumatism, and Aging Medical Information System (ARAMIS).5 The database captured 19 NSAID-related GI bleeding deaths; the authors then extrapolated this number to the overall US population with arthritis. The 16,500 deaths has been considered overestimated or inaccurate because it was based on a small number of actual deaths and extrapolated inappropriately.6,7 A much smaller number was reported by Tarone and colleagues.7 They reported 3,200 deaths annually as a result of NSAID-induced GI bleeding based on US mortality data reported in the 1990s." Unfortunately I can't access the sources right now. https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/treatments/pharmacological/opioids/ask-expert-do-nsaids-cause-more-deaths-opioids https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/treatments/pharmacol...
zepto 10y ago
Also: I'm curious how reliable that 2013 figure is. 2014's was misreported: https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/fatal.html https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/fatal.html

by 542458 10y ago

zepto 10y ago

Those numbers suggest that the two problems are in very much the same ballpark. Conservative estimates suggest that 1 in 3 Americans own guns. A mandatory training every other year would be an approx $2Bn program annually. (Based on $50 per person per class including administration, which seems very conservative to me) It seems obvious that if you had $2Bn per year to spend on preventing avoidable deaths, this would be an extremely low priority.

brewdad 10y ago
You are neglecting the medical costs of treatment prior to death and also treating those who are injured by guns but not killed. I don't know the exact numbers but I have to imagine that $2bn worth of gun safety courses comes pretty close to paying for itself when all costs are included.
- zepto 10y ago
  It's absurd to suggest that it costs $2bn to treat 500 people who die of their injuries. If you don't have numbers to back up the idea that that injuries soak up the rest of the expense then I'm just going to call it and say your imagination is flat out wrong. Most gun related deaths are not accidents, and wouldn't be presented by safety classes.
DamnYuppie 10y ago
That would then become a defacto gun owner registration system. Good luck getting that passed!
- AmIFirstToThink 10y ago
  Why just owner database? Such registration would create two classes of citizenry, current gun owners who have guns without having cleared the tests, and another class of people that are first time gun buyers who can't buy guns without first clearing the test. To make it fair to first time gun buyers, then the process would become a "gun round-up, education, certification and reclaim you gun" process. Good luck passing that!

thomnottom 10y ago

I was curious about the NSAID number. Doing some quick research I came across this quote: "Mortality reported with NSAID use is generally linked to NSAID-associated GI bleeding, and the reported incidence is quite variable. Much of the literature reports 16,500 deaths annually as a result of NSAID-induced GI bleeding. However, it is important to put this number into perspective. This estimate was published in a 1999 observational study evaluating data from the Arthritis, Rheumatism, and Aging Medical Information System (ARAMIS).5 The database captured 19 NSAID-related GI bleeding deaths; the authors then extrapolated this number to the overall US population with arthritis. The 16,500 deaths has been considered overestimated or inaccurate because it was based on a small number of actual deaths and extrapolated inappropriately.6,7 A much smaller number was reported by Tarone and colleagues.7 They reported 3,200 deaths annually as a result of NSAID-induced GI bleeding based on US mortality data reported in the 1990s." Unfortunately I can't access the sources right now. https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/treatments/pharmacological/opioids/ask-expert-do-nsaids-cause-more-deaths-opioids https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/treatments/pharmacol...

zepto 10y ago

Also: I'm curious how reliable that 2013 figure is. 2014's was misreported: https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/fatal.html https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/fatal.html