ABC, NBC Highlight Study Claiming Infant Mortality Worse in U.S.
On Wednesday evening, the NBC Nightly News devoted a segment to a recent study involving the World Health Organization asserting that infant mortality in the United States has fallen behind 40 other countries, including Cuba. NBC's Today show and ABC's Good Morning America also mentioned the study briefly earlier the same day.
NBC's Snyderman on Nightly News even seemed to hint that universal health care in Vermont may play a role in that state's ranking that is relatively higher than other states, even though several other states she named as relatively higher do not have universal health care.
After host Brian Williams asked her the reason for the lower number in the U.S., Snyderman responded: "It happened because I think we took our eye off the ball. If you look at newborn health, so much of it is intervention. If you look just in the United States, there are some states that are doing pretty well. For instance, Washington, Utah, Alaska, Iowa, Vermont - which has universal health care - New Hampshire, those are all states that are doing pretty well."
But, when similar studies have been released in the past, some have argued that other countries are less likely to report premature babies in their statistics.
Below are the relevant transcripts from ABC and NBC from Wednesday, August 31:
#From the August 31 Good Morning America on ABC:
JOSH ELLIOTT: And a shocking new study about the infant mortality rate in this country. Researchers say that babies born in 40 different foreign countries now have a better chance of survival than American-born babies. Even those born in Malaysia and Cuba in fact have higher survival rates. Doctors say the U.S. isn't keeping pace with the progress being made in other countries.
#From the August 31 Today show on NBC:
NATALIE MORALES: A new study says infant mortality rates are now higher in the U.S. than they are in more than 40 other countries in the world. Researchers say Americans are not keeping up with progress being made in other countries.
#From the August 31 NBC Nightly News:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: There are new numbers to announce tonight, and they really are sad news for the country, not the kind of thing that instills great pride. These numbers have to do with infant mortality, and we've asked our chief medical editor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, to join us tonight. What are the numbers all about?
NANCY SNYDERMAN: Hi, Brian. You're right, this,the evidence tonight is in the numbers, and the numbers are not very pretty. expect developed countries to do well when it comes to infant morality, but not necessarily. Take a look at the countries that are usually at the top of the heap. They include Japan, Singapore, and France. They're always consistent in the top tier. But, now, look at this: Cuba, Malaysia, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland, they are ahead of the United States, which now ranks 41st in infant mortality, and that's a real concern because really we spend more money per capita for health care in this country, and those are the results. And, Brian, no matter how you massage those numbers, we were ranked 29th five years ago. No way to paint this in a good way.
WILLIAMS: It makes me look back at all the confidence of the World War II era, the post-war era, the Space Race, the confidence of America. How did this kind of thing happen?
SNYDERMAN: It happened because I think we took our eye off the ball. If you look at newborn health, so much of it is intervention. If you look just in the United States, there are some states that are doing pretty well. For instance, Washington, Utah, Alaska, Iowa, Vermont - which has universal health care - New Hampshire, those are all states that are doing pretty well. But look at the states on the bottom of the list, the states that aren't doing as well: North Carolina, Maryland, Mississippi, Alabama, and, unfortunately, at the bottom of the heap, Washington, D.C. One little moment of perhaps brightness, South Carolina, which is always at the bottom of the list, they've put newborn health as an important benchmark. They're inching forward because they're putting people out in the field trying to get ahead of the problem and not just acting after, in fact, they already have a crisis. But we have a, this is dismal and, frankly, appalling.
WILLIAMS: We got to hope this gets everybody's attention.
SNYDERMAN: Yes.
WILLIAMS: Nancy, thank you, as always.
- Brad Wilmouth's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
You gotta give him credit...
Submitted by motherbelt on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 7:02am.
For instance, Washington, Utah, Alaska, Iowa, Vermont - which has universal health care - New Hampshire, those are all states that are doing pretty well."
In the other states doing pretty well, it's just a fluke.
\sarc off.
I really don't know why infant mortality isn't lower here, but it certainly isn't because we don't spend enough.
That's because we report all deaths.
Submitted by NeoKong on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 7:54am.
Not just the ones that die during birth or near term. Many countries will not count deaths if there wasn't actually a birth but here in the U.S. and in other countries we start the clock at 22 weeks in the womb. Many countries do not include those as viable fetuses.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db23.htm
In the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, and Poland, births at 500 grams birthweight or more or 22 weeks of gestation or more are required to be reported. Although most countries require that all live births be reported, limits on birth registration requirements for some countries do have the potential to affect infant mortality comparisons, especially if very small infants who die soon after birth are excluded from infant mortality computations (7,8). There is also concern that birth registration may be incomplete near the lower limit of the reporting requirement, as the exact gestational age may not always be known. Differences in national birth registration notwithstanding, there can also be individual differences between physicians or hospitals in the reporting of births for very small infants who die soon after birth. For this reason, births and infant deaths at less than 22 weeks of gestation are excluded from the subsequent analysis in this report.
"Many countries do not
Submitted by Rackie on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 1:44pm.
"Many countries do not include those as viable fetuses"
Jews don't consider male fetuses viable until they graduate medical school.
You got to laugh at these
Submitted by jdhawk on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 8:32am.
You got to laugh at these periodic attempts on the part of the lying sacks of shit in the lamestream media to paint our healthcare system as anything but the finest on the planet. Despite more than half of the healthcare system in our country completely government funded and run, it is the place on the planet that people still come from around the world for life saving surgeries and medicines.
Nevertheless, I'll bite. Here is one of the countries that was "lauded" as having better infant mortality stats than that of the United States: http://therealcuba.com/Page10.htm. My "favorite" photo is of the old man being taken to the "hospital" by his sons in a wheelbarrow because there are no ambulances. Or the hospital physical conditions with excrement (that's shit for you at ABC and NBC) on the floor of a patients rooms with cockroaches running wild.
Take a look at the page that I posted above about Cuban medical care. It is crap. I wouldn't take my even a dimocRAT to a Cuban hospital.
What is particular gauling is that in all of dictator lead countries of the world (about half of those that are members of the UN or over 100 including Cuba), medical statistics and all other government statistics are force fed to the public and news sources without any recourse to verify the data. For example, coming out of China are glowing reports of IPOs over the past year. When the truth was that these were shell companies with no earnings and in some cases no buildings, employees, etc. Once discovered for what they were, thousands of investors lost all or most of their hard earned invested dollar in them.
Outside the US, statistics are hard to come by and almost always unrealiable. It is never more true regarding infant mortality statistics.
Just think what ranking would
Submitted by Edhenry on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 9:08am.
Just think what ranking would be if they included baby killing...
Abortion, 100% owned by liberals
Perinatal Mortality
Submitted by Texndoc on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 9:20am.
Comparing perinatal mortality in a state like Vermont to New York, California or Texas is like the studies that compare gang violence in South Central LA to Finland and decide it must be socialism responsible for the lower rate in Finland. Perinatal mortality is most likely a result of no prenatal care and drug abuse.
The standard for a live birth in US is much lower than
Submitted by Lipton on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 9:21am.
in other countries.
That is why we have a higher infant mortality rate. The other countries don't even give sickly kids a chance.
Absolutely criminal to not include this fact in their report.
Why don't these fools just move to another country?
Submitted by ohio granny on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 9:23am.
If America is really this bad, why don't these idiots move to some other( more acceptable to them) country? Most of us would not miss them in the least. Maybe the reason they don't is because they know in their hearts (if they have one) this is the best country in the world.
According to the MSM the only good thing about American is the little man-child in the White House. All of you can leave and take him with you. You, nor he, will be missed!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nonsense
Submitted by Eagle101 on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 9:24am.
If these other countries had 40 million illegal aliens dropping malnourished sprogs inside their country, their infant mortality rate would suffer a bit too. Plus the fact that welfare crack whores are included in this study is a sham. Anybody who thinks Indonesian or Cuban healthcare is better than American Healthcare is epically stupid. Period. When's the last time you heard anyone say "Hey I'm sick! I want to go to Indonesia!"
It's much much worse than that...
Submitted by c5then on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 9:59am.
When you include all the infanticides that occur in this country every year we are probably way behind Zimbabway and Bottswanna.
Abortion = murder.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
It is good........
Submitted by Spoker on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 10:06am.
It is good to see that the liars are still figuring. Omission or comission, a lie is still a lie.
Infant Morality Rate is Higher in US!
Submitted by NVRAT on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 10:23am.
This is about the most ridiculous statement I have heard in at least 4hours from a Liberal Think Tank (Think Tank? what a Oxymoron), anyway, the Liberal Machine, as always, makes statements or produces documents that are unsubstantiated and when really looked at are cooked to meet there agenda to blame the US for everything bad or sensationalize a subject that will make the headline news. Now, the MSM will pick it up and run without checking it out or just print/report it because it is negative and supports their anti American Stance. For these cooks I think that them and their family members should go to another country to receive their health care in fact it should be mandatory so they would not have to be subjected to such a inferior medical system.
Do these statistics take into
Submitted by eaglewingz08 on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 10:32am.
Do these statistics take into account abortion as affecting infant mortality rates, during the period 22 weeks and after?
It's just another "hit piece"
Submitted by rbosque on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 10:42am.
It's just another "hit piece" from the left, the purpose of which is to slowley condition us to believe that our medical system could be better off under Obama-care.
That's all this is propagenda, and many (stupid) people will buy it. The purpose of which is to shape public perceptions and opinions that might pay off for the left in the long-term.
He just may be the reason why
Submitted by Kenyon Schraeder on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 11:55am.
He just may be the reason why many stupid people WILL vote, presumably for someone, anyone better.
Although I've never been a Clintonian or a fan of him/her or their style of politics, the thought of Hillary giving this mountebank a run for his money in the Primary would be well worth the price of admission. And, if by some chance she were to win, well, then it follows that we as a Nation can only go up from where we are headed now. Then again, Alfred E. Neuman would probably be an improvement. At least he freely admits he doesn't worry or care.
{long sentence, mea
Submitted by Kenyon Schraeder on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 10:44am.
{long sentence, mea culpa}
Interesting that with foreclosures escalating, unemployment figures rising this month, our debt steadily ballooning, people reeling from the damages of the recent hurricane and the left's incendiary rhetoric reeling its head once again, the networks are looking to avoid anything that might paint the left in an unfavorable light, making believe instead that it's more important to boost the "value" of Obamacare now in a heavily slanted fluff piece than to discuss any one of the previously mentioned problems in-depth and press this administration for legitimate and timely answers.
liberalsarefunny
Submitted by liberalsarefunny on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 11:44am.
Hey--just sounds like another reason for abortions to me!!
Right, libs???
Am I Crazy?
Submitted by Conservator on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 12:35pm.
I thought that the United States does not have a universal health care system, with the exception of Massachusetts' Romneycare. Thus, I'm confused by the following comment from the article:
SNYDERMAN: It happened because I think we took our eye off the ball. If you look at newborn health, so much of it is intervention. If you look just in the United States, there are some states that are doing pretty well. For instance, Washington, Utah, Alaska, Iowa, Vermont - which has universal health care - New Hampshire, those are all states that are doing pretty well.
Do these states really afford universal healthcare to their residents, or have I taken my eye off the ball?
Vermont's law took effect on May 26, 2011.
Submitted by Par for the Course on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 1:20pm.
The above article says Vermont is the first state in the nation to create a single-payer health system.
Funny that Snyderman mentions Vermont doing "pretty well", considering Vermont's single-payer plan was just recently enacted and the "new law doesn't establish the system right away".
The devil is in the financial details.
Submitted by drsamherman on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 1:26pm.
Short of raising premiums and taxes to astronomical levels, I would surmise this board will have few options to finance such a foolhardy system. The few employers that will be left in the state will automatically just pay the fines and allow their employees to be put into the public system, the same as will happen with Obamacare unless a Republican POTUS is able to stop the law cold in its tracks.
You do know
Submitted by mandrake on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 1:47pm.
That Canada has had a 'single payer' system in place for some decades now and is doing rather well business wise..Employers are not 'fleeing' the country in droves..and our tax rates may higher that yours but it not 'astronomical' as you you would say.
Now comes the standard arguement about how I have to wait 48 hours to get a few stiches or look at a pain in my chest..it's not true!
Mandrake,
Submitted by Agnostic on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 1:59pm.
No, you are right because there is a lot of good in Canada's system. Possibly the US could afford such a system, whether right or wrong, if we didn't protect the ocean lanes, give funding to practically every support organization in the world, fund massive amounts of medical advancements that are shared with the world for free, commit so many resources to helping other countries protect their own resources, (along with Japan) pay the lion's share of UN costs, fund the fighting of epidemics the world over, send in military and food to every crisis worldwide, etc, etc, etc...
Perhaps, just perhaps if we kept all of our resources here at home and let our neighbors fend for themselves the world would be better off and the US could have a one payer medical system. Of course when the smaller nations fell for various reasons and plagues and disaster started having an even larger effect - the liberals would say the US was selfish by paying for their own health while the world was dying - which of course would be an exaggeration but not one without a point.
"all of our resources here at home "
Submitted by Rackie on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 2:32pm.
...if we could rid ourselves of the responsibility of the protected sub-cultures that are in the advanced stages of degeneration. Violent, demanding, below average in intelligence and nonproductive, they take more than they give, overwhelming social services, law enforcement and schools. We can't have both. We can't have a the best military, the best health care system, the best education system or the best anything (look what happened to our space program) if more and more resourses are diverted to proping up disfunctional sub-cultures.
at the least
Submitted by Agnostic on Fri, 09/02/2011 - 8:23am.
I disagree with your terminology and sincerely hope you are not implying what it seems
The soul-destroying search for a family doctor
Submitted by Par for the Course on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 2:48pm.
The soul-destroying search for a family doctor
Published Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011 4:00PM EDT
[...]
In 2010, 4.4 million Canadians, or 15 per cent of the population aged 12 and older, reported they did not have a regular medical doctor.
As in previous years, just over half (53 per cent) said they had tried unsuccessfully to find one. Among those, 40 per cent said doctors in their area were not taking new patients, 31 per cent said their doctor had retired or left the area, and 27 per cent said no doctors were available in their area.
[...]
I guess times have changed.
Submitted by mandrake on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 3:12pm.
I really don't think it's that hard. 40 years ago I walked into a local medical clinic with a bad case of gingivitis. He took my medical history, and after that he became my family doctor. He is now family doctor to all my children. He is a few years away from retirement but he assures me my file will be turned over to another doctor in the clinic. Just find a doctor you like and build a relationship.
I prefer my healthcare plan to have dentists rather than ---
Submitted by matthewdean on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 8:30pm.
doctors, dealing with gingivitis.
MD
Ignore the snowbilly troll
Submitted by The Vet on Fri, 09/02/2011 - 12:44am.
Canada's health care system has been leaching off the United States for years. They force drug companies to charge ultralow prices for drugs for example. And how do those multinational drug companies (certainly not Canadian only) make up for it? By charging even more in the United States. I imagine it is prolly the same across the entire medical field in Canada.
Oh and also....
Submitted by The Vet on Fri, 09/02/2011 - 12:56am.
Yes. Gingivitis is a slow moving condition. It takes years and years to get to a point the dentist will need to address it.
Gingivitis is a very common and mild form of gum (periodontal) disease that causes irritation, redness and swelling (inflammation) of your gums. Because gingivitis can be very mild, you may not be aware that you have the condition. But it's important to take gingivitis seriously and treat it promptly. Gingivitis can lead to much more serious gum disease (periodontitis) and eventual tooth loss.
The most common cause of gingivitis is poor oral hygiene. Good oral health habits, such as regular professional checkups and daily brushing and flossing, can help prevent gingivitis.
Gingivitis is the mild form. Periodontitis is the more acute form.
What the snowbilly troll prolly had was Trench mouth.
Trench mouth
Trench mouth is an acute, necrotizing (causing tissue death), ulcerating (causing open sores) form of gingivitis...
I doubt the snowbilly mandrake troll has ever stepped within 2 feet of a toothbrush his entire life. It is easy to see why he got confused. He walked into an emergency room with dead necrotic tissue in his mouth and the doctor's tried to explain the result of never having brushed his teeth ever from about 20 feet away. The smell must have been excruciating in the ER that day.
Stupid snowbilly trolls never brush their teeth and admit it here. Stupid snowbilly trolls.
What a snowbilly says versus reality.
Submitted by The Vet on Fri, 09/02/2011 - 1:29am.
Snowbilly mandrake: ...I walked into a local medical clinic with a bad case of acne....
Reality: The snowbilly likely had Hidradenitis suppurativa. Chronic acne from rarely bathing.
Snowbilly mandrake: ...I walked into a local medical clinic with a bad case of dermatitis...
Reality: The snowbilly likely had a bad case of diaper rash from, again, rarely bathing or wiping his rear.
I was referring to Vermont, Mandrake.
Submitted by drsamherman on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 8:43pm.
The US healthcare system is not set up financially in the same structure as Canada. The majority of former Canadian system patients that I have treated report that the average wait time to see a primary care physician to obtain requisite referrals to a specialist like me ranged anywhere from two to five months. We had a large influx of Canadians in the San Antonio and Austin areas many years ago commensurate with the tech boom of the 90s. Most of them remained here, and I treated more than my share in the neurology sector of my practice. I also work with more than 20 physicians who trained in Canada, but came to the United States (and Texas in particular) because of the insane workloads they were experiencing.
If you will notice--I mentioned VERMONT, not CANADA.
Might I dare ask why a Canadian would care what happens in the US health care system?
Yes you may ask.
Submitted by mandrake on Fri, 09/02/2011 - 12:34pm.
I have three reasons for caring about what happens in US health care system.
1) I believe in the Canadian health care system and while I admit that for the wealthy the US is hands down the best health care in the world..for the poor, maybe not so much.
2) I have relatives that live in the US..so I try to help anyway I can, even if it's just posting here.
3) I just love to pi$$ off Unsane.
Mandrake,
Submitted by Agnostic on Fri, 09/02/2011 - 12:50pm.
I lived for years in 'Little Canada' also known as the west coast of Florida and there was nothing but endless complaints about both the American and Canadian systems. It seems that there were certain procedures that were done in Canada and then they would wait until they were down in Florida to have others done.
The US has a universal health care system by default and the sad part of story is that those who suffer in the US system are the ones who don't want to take advantage while millions of people abuse the system for various reasons.
I've been to a few parts of Canada and it is a great country - even Quebec. It is always been my opinion that is the media that drives a rift between the citizens of our two nations. The arrogance in the media and one sided reporting on both sides of the border is not reflective of the many great people in NA.
Social safety nets are luxuries for a nation and have to be budgeted as such. You don't go over budget for luxuries.
Leno: Obama's Drunk Uncle Also Likes To Blame Busch
Snyderman is a mouth piece for the left
Submitted by zachlind on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 12:57pm.
Snyderman, a long-time Democrat and fevered supporter of government funded and controlled health care. And she’s been NBC’s go-to gal for the liberal network’s interpretation of medical “news” for many years. When I occasionally hear and read her comments it continues to confirm my belief that acquiring a medical degree via correspondence course is just not the way to go.
US infant mortality rates
Submitted by bart simpson on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 1:43pm.
If they are counting aborted fetuses in the infant mortality rate, they are likely correct........
"For instance, Washington,
Submitted by ckc1227 on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 3:14pm.
"For instance, Washington, Utah, Alaska, Iowa, Vermont - which has universal health care - New Hampshire, those are all states that are doing pretty well."
They also happen to be some of the whitest states in the country. Fewer minorities = fewer health issues associated with those minorities.
Bad statistics
Submitted by redandgearhead on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 11:38pm.
When the teacher’s union thing was going on in Wisconsin, one of the claims was Wisconsin’s students scored higher than Texas. Well, Wisconsin is 95% white. And one of the facts of life is Asians score higher than Whites, and Whites score higher than Blacks and Hispanics. Texas Whites score better than Wisconson whites and Texas Blacks score better than Wisconsin Blacks and so and on and so forth almost completely across the board. So, with the much higher Wisconsin percentage white population, the comparison was flawed.
Same thing with infant mortality. For reasons unknown, blacks have a higher infant mortality rate than most. And if the US population is compared to a principally white country like Finland, then yes, we could appear to have a higher mortality rate.