Sex and Statistics

You probably know that conservative/religious groups would like to ban RU-486, or at least have it labeled as dangerous and potentially fatal, since a woman died last year after taking it.



Well, okay, that seems reasonable; if something is dangerous we should certainly know about it. And really, maybe we should ban it. So let's look at some statistics to get an idea where we are.



The associated (not causal, as the causality isn't clear) mortality rate for RU-486 is 0.8/100,000. For comparison, the associated mortality rate for a pencillin shot is 2/100,000. So RU-486 doesn't seem all that dangerous, really.



But, of course, a penicillin shot serves an altogether different purpose than RU-486; to be fair, we should really look at another sex-related drug, like, say, Viagra, since it's been on the market for years now.



So what's the death risk for men taking Viagra?



Well. Um. Turns out it's 6/100,000. That would make it more than six times as dangerous as RU-486.



So I guess we'll be banning Viagra any day now. Or at least putting dire warning labels on it.



(Via one of my favorite blogs: Bitch. Ph.D. [best enjoyed by academics, though others can play too]).