[thechat] Surgery Tools Left in 1,500 People a Year

Andrew Forsberg - pander andrew at thepander.co.nz
Thu Jan 16 00:53:00 CST 2003


> I'm still trying to
> figure out how 61 cases in 16 years becomes 3500 cases yearly.

Hmm, well, they state 1500 p.a. for one. But still:

61 / 16 = 3.8125 p.a. in Massachusetts
1500 / 3.8125 = a factor of 393.44 (2.dp) to translate from Massachusetts to
the entire US

Massachusetts has a population of 6.379M (2001)
http://www.areaconnect.com/population.htm?s=MA
the US has a population of 290M (approx, 2003)
http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/popclock

or, better still, and side by side (6.379M vs 284.797M as at 2001, est.):
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/25000.html

284.797 / 6.379 = a factor of 44.65 to map Massachusetts pop to the entire
US
44.65 * 3.8125 p.a. = 170.23 (2dp) instruments left in patients p.a. across
the US

So, I guess they either think that the most recent (undisclosed /
unmentioned) data indicates a recent and exponential increase in the last
couple of years over the previous 16 years, or they think Massachusetts
surgeons are far more responsible than the rest of y'all merkins.


Quite liked the popclock thing.





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