Fact, Not Fact: Statistics By Any Other Name

I received this tidbit yesterday. Proof-positive that whereas statistics don't lie, people can lie with statistics.

"Guns don't kill people, doctors kill people!

"According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there are 700,000 physicians in the United States. The number of accidental patient deaths per year is 120,000. Therefore, accidental deaths per physician is 0.171.

"According to the F.B.I., there are 80,000,000 gun owners in the United States. The number of accidental gun deaths per year is 1,500. The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is 0.000188

"Statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.

"NOT everyone has a gun, but almost everyone has at least one doctor. Please alert your friends to this alarming threat.

"Ban Doctors, Not Guns!"

Okay, so it was sent to me tongue in cheek, but many similiarly ludicrous ideas about safety are based on similiarly silly statistics.

Like this one: You're safer flying than driving because statistically there are more car crash fatalities per year than fatalities in plane crashes. Fact is, the average person travels in a car far more often than they do in an airplane, therefore the likelihood of being in a car accident is much higher. In fact, also, it is far more likely that one will survive multiple car crashes, whereas surviving an airplane crash is far less likely.

Or this one: You're safer not getting a tetanus immunization shot because statistically you're more likely to die of an anaphylatic reaction to the shot than you are of tetanus infection. Fact is, the reason more people die from the shot than from tetanus is not because the shot is more dangerous, but because tetanus infection is rare due to widespread immunization. However, the likelihood of surviving anaphylatic reactions is far greater than surviving tetanus, which, if you get it, has a survival rate of almost 0%.

And if one more person tells me that you're safer in a rollover accident without your seatbelt on because you're less likely to get stuck in your crushed or burning vehicle...