Was The US drug Vioxx Responsible For Half A Million Deaths?

Well, this is an eye popping number – we spotted this today:

“Unz makes the point that the users of Vioxx were almost all elderly, and it was not possible to determine whether a particular victim’s heart attack had been caused by Vioxx or other factors. But he concludes: “Perhaps 500,000 or more premature American deaths may have resulted from Vioxx [my italics], a figure substantially larger than the 3,468 deaths of named individuals acknowledged by Merck during the settlement of its lawsuit. And almost no one among our political or media elites seems to know or care about this possibility.”

Read more: http://www.theweek.co.uk/us/46535/when-half-million-americans-died-and-nobody-noticed#ixzz1uUfyW2Oo”

That is a huge number, definitely must not have gone unnoticed.

For Interesting Statistics Everyday, Find Statspotting on Facebook and Follow Statspotting on Twitter

Walmart: The Largest Provider of Primary Healthcare Services In U.S?

Well it is turning out to be a Walmart week here at Statspotting. We had spotted the 10 million dollar fine yesterday, and today, we spotted this:

“Wal-Mart is quietly working to become “the largest provider of primary health care services in the nation,” NPR and Kaiser Health News reported this morning. Late last month, the retail behemoth started scouting out companies to launch clinics in Wal-Mart stores that would provide basic preventive and screening services”

Statistics Source: WashingtonPost

And this would be one of the few stats we can file under Retail AND Healthcare!

For Interesting Statistics Everyday, Find Statspotting on Facebook and Follow Statspotting on Twitter

2.6 Trillion: U.S Healthcare Spend Equals GDP of France

We spotted this today:

“even though the U.S. outspends every other country on healthcare ($2.6 trillion a year; the equivalent of France’s entire GDP), we’re nowhere near the healthiest country. ”

Statistics Source: Freakanomics

Bonus stat:

“[I]t turns out that the combined profits of the country’s five largest for-profit health insurance companies — United, WellPoint, Aetna, Humana and Cigna — were $11.7 billion, only 0.5 percent of total health care spending. Even confiscating every penny of those profits would add up to less than half of the cost-saving threshold.”

For Interesting Statistics Everyday, Find Statspotting on Facebook and Follow Statspotting on Twitter

Health Insurance Statistics: Every Sixth American Is Uninsured

We have written about healthcare statistics before – we spotted this today:

“The number of people who lacked health insurance last year climbed to 49.9 million, up from 49 million in 2009, the Census Bureau said Tuesday.

Nationwide, 16.3% of the population was uninsured last year, statistically unchanged from 2009.”

Statistics Source: CNN Money

For Interesting Statistics Everyday, Find Statspotting on Facebook and Follow Statspotting on Twitter

Affordable Care Act: 34 Million People Will Gain Health Insurance

We have spotted some stats on healthcare before – we spotted this today:

“We have a lot of numbers to estimate how many people will gain health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The Congressional Budget Office estimates it will hover around 34 million, with 24 million purchasing coverage through the new health exchange marketplaces. We think, based on a study published this week and the Massachusetts experience, that the majority of the uninsured plan to comply with health reform’s mandated purchase of health insurance.”

Statistics Source: WashingtonPost

How do we digest this number? simple – that is more than one in ten Americans.

For Interesting Statistics Everyday, Find Statspotting on Facebook and Follow Statspotting on Twitter

Obesity Statistics: Half of the U.S. Population Will be Obese by 2030

We spotted this today:

“By 2030, there will be an additional 65 million obese adults living in the U. S., and 11 million more in the U.K. That would bring the U.S. obese population up from 99 million to 164 million, roughly half the population.”

Statistics Source: Freakanomics

For Interesting Statistics Everyday, Find Statspotting on Facebook and Follow Statspotting on Twitter

Medicaid Statistics: Expansion In 2014 Will Reach 65 Million Total

We would do a deep dive into Healthcare stats sometime soon, meantime, we spotted this today:

“The federal health law calls for a huge expansion of the Medicaid program in 2014 — a potential bonanza for insurers if the law survives court challenges and opposition by Republican contenders for the White House. The expansion will add 16 million enrollees, mostly in private plans, bringing the total nationwide to about 65 million and raising the stakes for controlling costs.”

Statistics Source: Washington Post

For Interesting Statistics Everyday, Find Statspotting on Facebook and Follow Statspotting on Twitter