[SpiritWarrior]

Originally Posted by Morgeruat A couple of things have to be taken into account for that statistic to hold water. First, you have to correlate length of life to quality of care, which isn't necessarily true. Then, you have to consider DOA's at hospitals and their effect on "average" lifespan, factors that affect DoA's: traffic accidents (Americans drive far more and far longer distances than nearly any other nation in the world); homocides, as the gun-control threads have explored in the past, the US has a far higher rate of gun crime than anywhere else in the world and leads in other violent crimes as well, which leads to a LOT of deaths before they can even reach medical treatment. Factoring those out, the US ranks #1. On a related note, if you arrive at a hospital with a gunshot or knife wound, your chances of survival are far higher in the US than anywhere else in the world. (familiarity with those types of injuries due to a violent culture, possibly, but that's not what's being discussed) A more accurate assessment would be state-by-state comparisons, say two states with similar geography but wildly divergent lifespans, like say, Utah and Nevada. Go ahead, look it up, I'll wait... So, factor out violent crime deaths and fatal accidents and, no we're still not up to France's lifespan, but again, correlation does not equal causation, as any scientist can tell you. All done? Good, another thing, different nations count things differently. Seems kind of strange but when everyone is counting things differently, the person who counts EVERYTHING in the most negative way, has the worst numbers. Infant mortality rates for instance. In Japan (which has IIRC the lowest infant mortality rate) doesn't count any live birth that dies within 48/72 hours (not sure which) as infant mortality, they count it as a spontaneously aborted pregnancy. I can pull up boatloads of similar situations and cases where counting measures are vastly different. Got Cancer? If it's skin, breast, prostate, or colon cancer your likelihood of surviving is 90% in the USA, 45-55% in most of Europe and lower in other nations. I can go on and on and on and on about why that "#37" is misleading and just inaccurate. I'd prefer to see a study where every country counts every health care incident in the same way and watch the US outperform in every conceivable way.

While this is all speculation, and I too could talk to it forever, it is worth noting that the US was not ranked #5 or #10. It is #37. Lets say, for arguments sake, that we put some inacurracies aside - it still ranks as one of the lowest. You don't think it's a bit of a stretch to have all these reasons and explanations and then suddenly end up with the United States on the top of the list? No other country is better? C'mon.

After living in and visiting many countries, I don't disagree with its number. Bear in mind, it is also one of the most unhealthiest nations in the free world. Not to mention the fattest, with obesity almost like an epidemic in the USA. You will see alot more obese people while you walk in Walmart, than you would while walking in Paris, or Dublin or Amsterdam. I have done both multiple times, and can attest to this firsthand. Overall, it is an unhealthy nation and people have to own that. They have some of the best physicians in the world, but they do not have the healthiest people or the best healthcare system by a long run.