http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6739530/ from WP
More than 886,000 deaths could have been prevented from 1991 to 2000 if African Americans had received the same care as whites, according to an analysis in the December issue of the American Journal of Public Health. The study estimates that technological improvements in medicine -- including better drugs, devices and procedures -- averted only 176,633 deaths during the same period.
Guys, this is unbelievably sick. My stomach is turning around at this very moment...
That means "five times as many lives can be saved by correcting the disparities [in care between whites and blacks] than in developing new treatments," Steven H. Woolf, lead author and director of research at Virginia Commonwealth University's Department of Family Medicine, said in a telephone interview.
Obviously, this won't be fixed anytime soon, because politicians don't bother. This is happening under Republican and Democratic watch...
Note that the study has some limitations, but the key finding I think is the fact that you could save more lifes with fixing the socioeconomic disparities rather than with new technology.
"Access to care is a big factor. African Americans and Hispanics are much more likely to be uninsured and underinsured and underserved" and may not seek care as often as whites, Satcher said.
"May not seek" does not mean "do not seek". Also note that many people "may not seek" care because of an 80 hours workload a week...