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dippin · 03-28-2010, 10:13 AM

I would love to know more about the "health care = vat" but I guess we will be waiting forever, just like everything else.

As for cancer survival rates, why don't we go into the statistics into more detail?

Sure, the US does better than Canada, and than "European men" on the aggregate. But why don't we break it down?

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/32/7/43947803.xls

Cancer survival in five continents: a worldwide population-based study (CONCORD) : The Lancet Oncology

You know what the selective comparison presented in that op-ed fails to mention?

The only type of cancer where the US is number 1 in survival rates worldwide is prostate cancer. It is #2 in breast cancer behind Cuba. It is #5 in colorectal cancer behind Cuba, Japan, Iceland and France.

And though we don't have data for Cuba on cervical cancer, among OECD nations the US is 8th in cervical cancer survival.

Not so much better after all, right?

Even that doesn't tell you the whole story. The cancer where the US does best, which is prostate, has a median onset age of 72. That means that the vast majority of prostate cancer treatments are covered by medicare.

And to put the final nail on the coffin of this silliness, the study cited there, which i presented here, only covers a few types of cancer. When we look at cancer mortality in the aggregate, by age standardized mortality rate the US is not even top 5 in the developed world. The things where the US is number 1 on among the developed world is infant mortality, and it is also top 3 on maternal mortality and years of life lost to communicable diseases.

As an aside, I find it annoying that instead of addressing other people's counterpoints, you just ignore them and post another op-ed by a random conservative talking head. If this is going to be your m.o. here, let me know and I'll start ignoring your posts.

03-28-2010, 10:13 AM	#60 (permalink)
dippin Crazy, indeed Location: the ether	I would love to know more about the "health care = vat" but I guess we will be waiting forever, just like everything else. As for cancer survival rates, why don't we go into the statistics into more detail? Sure, the US does better than Canada, and than "European men" on the aggregate. But why don't we break it down? http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/32/7/43947803.xls Cancer survival in five continents: a worldwide population-based study (CONCORD) : The Lancet Oncology You know what the selective comparison presented in that op-ed fails to mention? The only type of cancer where the US is number 1 in survival rates worldwide is prostate cancer. It is #2 in breast cancer behind Cuba. It is #5 in colorectal cancer behind Cuba, Japan, Iceland and France. And though we don't have data for Cuba on cervical cancer, among OECD nations the US is 8th in cervical cancer survival. Not so much better after all, right? Even that doesn't tell you the whole story. The cancer where the US does best, which is prostate, has a median onset age of 72. That means that the vast majority of prostate cancer treatments are covered by medicare. And to put the final nail on the coffin of this silliness, the study cited there, which i presented here, only covers a few types of cancer. When we look at cancer mortality in the aggregate, by age standardized mortality rate the US is not even top 5 in the developed world. The things where the US is number 1 on among the developed world is infant mortality, and it is also top 3 on maternal mortality and years of life lost to communicable diseases. As an aside, I find it annoying that instead of addressing other people's counterpoints, you just ignore them and post another op-ed by a random conservative talking head. If this is going to be your m.o. here, let me know and I'll start ignoring your posts.