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I'm happy for your friend, but this is anecdotal evidence. Statistics don't agree with your story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expe

by 6t6t6 12y ago

I'm happy for your friend, but this is anecdotal evidence. Statistics don't agree with your story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expec...

ptaipale 12y ago
While I agree that there are great flaws in the US medical system, I don't think that life expectancy statistics is a good proof of them. It gives you an idea where the health care system stands because life expectancy is low in places where there is no health care system. But life expectancy is greatly increased just by public sanitation - generally, education - and vaccinations, but could be lowered by factors that have little to do with health care. American life expectancy is surely lowered by how Americans eat (no, I don't blame McDonalds who often gets the blame as an iconic brand). The kind of health insurance or lack of it, or how doctors work, cannot really decide how people eat. They try to impact but they cannot decide. Also, the US has a homicide rate that is substantially higher than in other developed countries. I won't bother myself by calculating how much that alone decreases life expectancy, but it's just an example of these other factors.
strictnein 12y ago
Your link doesn't disprove what I stated in any way. I said "5 year cancer survivability" which relates directly to quality and availability of medical care. Poor care and difficult to access care will directly affect that. > U.S., Japan, and France recorded the highest survival rates among 31 nations for four types of cancer http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20080716/cancer-survival-rates-vary-by-country http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20080716/cancer-survival-ra... America's life expectancy issues (in which we are 1-3% behind the rest of the modern world, oh noes!) has to do with us being overweight. So, no, the stats you provided are completely unrelated.

by 6t6t6 12y ago

ptaipale 12y ago

While I agree that there are great flaws in the US medical system, I don't think that life expectancy statistics is a good proof of them. It gives you an idea where the health care system stands because life expectancy is low in places where there is no health care system. But life expectancy is greatly increased just by public sanitation - generally, education - and vaccinations, but could be lowered by factors that have little to do with health care. American life expectancy is surely lowered by how Americans eat (no, I don't blame McDonalds who often gets the blame as an iconic brand). The kind of health insurance or lack of it, or how doctors work, cannot really decide how people eat. They try to impact but they cannot decide. Also, the US has a homicide rate that is substantially higher than in other developed countries. I won't bother myself by calculating how much that alone decreases life expectancy, but it's just an example of these other factors.

strictnein 12y ago

Your link doesn't disprove what I stated in any way. I said "5 year cancer survivability" which relates directly to quality and availability of medical care. Poor care and difficult to access care will directly affect that. > U.S., Japan, and France recorded the highest survival rates among 31 nations for four types of cancer http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20080716/cancer-survival-rates-vary-by-country http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20080716/cancer-survival-ra... America's life expectancy issues (in which we are 1-3% behind the rest of the modern world, oh noes!) has to do with us being overweight. So, no, the stats you provided are completely unrelated.