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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
 Posted - 11/05/2007 : 09:07:49
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Not sure if this should go in health, politics, or media. From FactCheck on Guiliani's spreading a bullshit statistic on England's record using socialized medicine to deal with prostate cancer.
Summary:
In a new radio ad, Rudy Giuliani falsely claims that under England's “socialized medicine” system only 44 percent of men with prostate cancer survive.
We tracked down the source of that number, which turns out to be the result of bad math by a Giuliani campaign adviser, who admits to us that his figure isn't "technically" a survival rate at all. Furthermore, the co-author of the study on which Giuliani's man based his calculations tells us his work is being misused, and that the 44 percent figure is both wrong and “misleading.” A spokesperson for the lead author also calls the figures "incorrect survival statistics."
It's true that official survival rates for prostate cancer are higher in the U.S. than in England, but the difference is not nearly as high as Giuliani claims. And even so, the higher survival rates in the U.S. may simply reflect more aggressive diagnosing of non-lethal cancers, according to the American Cancer Society.
Actually, men with prostate cancer are more likely to die sooner if they don't have health insurance, according to a recent study published in one of the American Medical Association's journals. Giuliani doesn't mention that. |
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/a_bogus_cancer_statistic.html
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"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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Edited by - marfknox on 11/05/2007 09:08:08
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 11/05/2007 : 13:34:36 [Permalink]
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I think it may be an unwritten rule of propaganda that when you just make shit up, you should always attach precise numbers to your lies, as it adds an appearance of reality.
85.7% of pundits agree with me.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 11/05/2007 13:35:27 |
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ocheewah
Skeptic Friend
USA
50 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2007 : 11:59:20 [Permalink]
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| Having fought cancer and kicked its ass, I have a personal bias against the use/misuse of survival statistics, especially as a scare tactic. Cancer is scary enough. |
Those who danced were thought quite insane by those who could not hear the music. |
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Guiliani's Bogus Cancer Stat
