Rudy's bogus healthcare stats

[Lt_Ripley]

Rudy's bogus healthcare stats

Giuliani claims he might not have survived prostate cancer under "socialized medicine," yet he was covered by a government-provided plan.

By Joe Conason

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani announces he has prostate cancer April 27, 2000, in New York.

Nov. 2, 2007 | To a politician pandering to his party's right wing, a role that Rudolph Giuliani plays every day now, citing his own recovery from prostate cancer as an argument against "socialized medicine" must have seemed like pure genius. The radio ad that went up this week in New Hampshire suggests that Giuliani not only faced down the 9/11 terrorists -- or something like that -- but triumphed over a terrifying disease as well, without the help of any government bureaucrats.

Or as Giuliani himself says in the controversial ad: "I had prostate cancer five, six years ago. My chance of surviving cancer -- and thank God I was cured of it -- in the United States: 82 percent. My chances of surviving prostate cancer in England: only 44 percent under socialized medicine."

Yes, it's another inspiring and instructive story -- or would be, perhaps, if only it were true.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2007/...ealthcare_lies/

[Timon]

I guess this shows how seriously Rudy takes the healthcare problems in this country.

[Unlimited]

I guess this shows how seriously Rudy takes the healthcare problems in this country.

Rudy doesnt care about health care,,,he cares about spreading fear..and reminding us of the horrors of sept 11th...

[keithisco]

Rudy's bogus healthcare stats

Giuliani claims he might not have survived prostate cancer under "socialized medicine," yet he was covered by a government-provided plan.

By Joe Conason

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani announces he has prostate cancer April 27, 2000, in New York.

Nov. 2, 2007 | To a politician pandering to his party's right wing, a role that Rudolph Giuliani plays every day now, citing his own recovery from prostate cancer as an argument against "socialized medicine" must have seemed like pure genius. The radio ad that went up this week in New Hampshire suggests that Giuliani not only faced down the 9/11 terrorists -- or something like that -- but triumphed over a terrifying disease as well, without the help of any government bureaucrats.

Or as Giuliani himself says in the controversial ad: "I had prostate cancer five, six years ago. My chance of surviving cancer -- and thank God I was cured of it -- in the United States: 82 percent. My chances of surviving prostate cancer in England: only 44 percent under socialized medicine."

Yes, it's another inspiring and instructive story -- or would be, perhaps, if only it were true.

<a href="http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2007/11/02/healthcare_lies/" target="_blank">http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2007/...ealthcare_lies/</a>

I want to see Giuliani's evidence for this preposterous claim. He needs to back up his figures.

Britain's Health Secretary Alan Johnson said Giuliani's figures were wrong and the survival rate under Britain's National Health Service was in fact much higher.

"The British NHS should not become a political football in American presidential politics," Johnson told The Times newspaper.

"Our rate of prostate cancer survival is actually much higher than has been claimed. The latest data show a survival rate of over 70 percent and rising."

A health department spokesman said the latest figures from Britain's Office of National Statistics showed a five-year survival rate of 74.4 percent for prostate cancer.

Giuliani spokeswoman Maria Comella has said the former New York mayor got his figures from a magazine article and used it at a campaign stop, which was recorded and used in the advertisement.

Cancer survival rate statistics depend on the number of cancers that are detected and when they are reported, and therefore may not necessarily reflect how well a health care system performs at preventing cancer deaths overall.

The Times said roughly the same proportion of men -- 25 out of 100,000 -- die of prostate cancer in the United States and Britain each year.

Looks to me like survivability of those able to afford treatment in the US is about the same as the survivability of all men diagnosed in the UK.