Hi Philip
Re: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies comparing
mortality rates of private for-profit and private not-for-profit
hospitals
I recall reading your excellent article when published, but have now had
it forwarded to me with comments. In the process, I've followed a link to
www.healthcoalition.ca/
which took me to
www.healthcoalition.ca/for-profit-death.html
which in turn took me to
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/324/7350/1351
I'm note that the BMJ has stated, "Patients treated at for-profit hospitals had a 2% increased risk of death (relative risk 1.020, 95% confidence interval 1.003 to 1.038), the report says. In Canada, that would mean 2200 extra deaths per yearabout the same number as die from suicide or colon cancer or in traffic crashes."
If 2,200 is 2% then the total is 110,000 deaths per year in Canada which is about the number of actual deaths through all causes in Canadian hospitals -- then this means that there would be a 20% increase in preventable deaths in acute-care Canadian hospitals figure based on US/AUS/NZ/UK/French/Denmark data, though I have no doubt that the number of preventable deaths within the total illness system is somewhat higher than that, probably around 30,000-40,000.
My unpublished data is that preventable medical injury is the number 1 cause of death in under 45 year olds and the number one cause of years life lost in modern western countries such as New Zealand/Aus/USA/Canada/UK.... Medical injury has a disability factor of 0.5 on a 0-1 scale which means that it is as debilitating long term as many cancers and paralysis.
The burden of injury and economic impact in Canada$ is in the multi billions.
Regards
Ron Law
Relative Risks of Hospital Care (PDF)
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