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http://www.newsmax.com/politics/giuliani_cancer/2007/11/02/46280.html
Giuliani Defends His Cancer Stats
Friday, November 2, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Rudy Giuliani is defending the survival rates he quotes when
talking about his prostate cancer, amid criticism he understates the figures
and makes unfair comparisons.
In a radio ad running this week in New Hampshire, Giuliani says: "My chance
of surviving prostate cancer, and thank God I was cured of it, in the United
States: 82 percent. My chances of surviving prostate cancer in England: only
44 percent under socialized medicine."
The American Cancer Society says the survival rates are actually higher and
it's misleading to compare the two countries.
Regardless, Giuliani said Friday, his point is clear.
"Even if you want to quibble about the statistics, you find me the person
who leaves the United States and goes to England for prostate cancer
treatment, and I'd like to meet that person," he told reporters in
Washington.
The American Cancer Society says five-year survival rates were 95 percent in
the U.S. and 60 percent in the United Kingdom, which includes Britain, in
1993-1995, the most recent time period with data to compare.
Rates are even higher today _ 99 percent in the U.S. and an estimated 74
percent in the U.K.
Moreover, experts from the American Cancer Society say it's misleading to
compare the countries at all.
American men are far more likely to undergo screening tests that detect the
disease in its earliest stages. That means U.S. survival rates include many
men whose lives probably weren't in danger _ and whose cancers may never
have been noticed in the United Kingdom.
Mortality rates in the two countries are closer _ 15 of every 100,000 people
die of prostate cancer in the U.K., compared with 12 of 100,000 in the U.S.
Giuliani defended his figures as "absolutely accurate" at the time of his
prostate cancer treatment in 2000. "Those statistics have changed slightly
today," he said Friday.
The former New York mayor got his numbers from the City Journal, a quarterly
magazine published by the conservative Manhattan Institute think tank.
Giuliani made his remarks at a Capitol Hill news conference with Republican
Sens. Kit Bond of Missouri and Norm Coleman of Minnesota, who endorsed
Giuliani this week.
Giuliani Defends His Cancer Stats
Friday, November 2, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Rudy Giuliani is defending the survival rates he quotes when
talking about his prostate cancer, amid criticism he understates the figures
and makes unfair comparisons.
In a radio ad running this week in New Hampshire, Giuliani says: "My chance
of surviving prostate cancer, and thank God I was cured of it, in the United
States: 82 percent. My chances of surviving prostate cancer in England: only
44 percent under socialized medicine."
The American Cancer Society says the survival rates are actually higher and
it's misleading to compare the two countries.
Regardless, Giuliani said Friday, his point is clear.
"Even if you want to quibble about the statistics, you find me the person
who leaves the United States and goes to England for prostate cancer
treatment, and I'd like to meet that person," he told reporters in
Washington.
The American Cancer Society says five-year survival rates were 95 percent in
the U.S. and 60 percent in the United Kingdom, which includes Britain, in
1993-1995, the most recent time period with data to compare.
Rates are even higher today _ 99 percent in the U.S. and an estimated 74
percent in the U.K.
Moreover, experts from the American Cancer Society say it's misleading to
compare the countries at all.
American men are far more likely to undergo screening tests that detect the
disease in its earliest stages. That means U.S. survival rates include many
men whose lives probably weren't in danger _ and whose cancers may never
have been noticed in the United Kingdom.
Mortality rates in the two countries are closer _ 15 of every 100,000 people
die of prostate cancer in the U.K., compared with 12 of 100,000 in the U.S.
Giuliani defended his figures as "absolutely accurate" at the time of his
prostate cancer treatment in 2000. "Those statistics have changed slightly
today," he said Friday.
The former New York mayor got his numbers from the City Journal, a quarterly
magazine published by the conservative Manhattan Institute think tank.
Giuliani made his remarks at a Capitol Hill news conference with Republican
Sens. Kit Bond of Missouri and Norm Coleman of Minnesota, who endorsed
Giuliani this week.
