While white women have a higher incidence rate of breast cancer than African American women at age 45 and older, African American women have a higher incidence rate before that age and are more likely to die from the disease at every age.
Source: American Cancer Society
October 10, 2009
Women aged 20-24 in the U.S. had the lowest incidence rate of breast cancer from 2002-2006, at 1.4 cases per 100,000 women. The 75-79 age group had the highest incidence rate, 441.9 cases per 100,000 women.
Source: American Cancer Society
TGIF
President Obama’s unexpected Nobel Peace Prize may end up being the story of the week, but it was the third-party groups that occupied most of our attention here at FactCheck.org. Once again, health care dominated the discussion, though we also saw some new ads on taxes and on climate change.
We’ve seen both sides making false claims about Medicare. This week it was the conservative group Americans for Prosperity leading with the alarming claim that "Medicare will be bankrupt in 8 years."
77-Cent Increase Per Gallon of Gas?
Q: Will the House cap-and-trade bill raise the cost of a gallon of gasoline by 77 cents?
A: That extreme estimate comes from the oil and gas industry’s lobby. Nonpartisan government experts project a lower increase, most likely between 12 and 67 cents per gallon in 2020.
October 9, 2009
The estimated new cases of breast cancer in the U.S. for 2009 are: 192,370 women and 1,910 men. Estimated deaths are 40,170 women and 440 men.
Source: National Cancer Institute
NY-23: Owens to Raise YOUR Taxes?
Voters in New York’s 23rd congressional district – where a special election has been forced by the appointment of former GOP Rep. John McHugh to be secretary of the Army – may be finding themselves a bit confused. Dede Scozzafava is pro-choice and has supported gay marriage, and has been endorsed by Markos Moulitsas, creator of the liberal Daily Kos blog. But she’s the Republican in the race. The conservative Club for Growth, meanwhile, is backing a third-party candidate,
October 8, 2009
The U.S. Postal Service has 656,000 career employees.
Source: USPS
Going Out of Business?
A new health care ad from a conservative group claims that “Medicare will be bankrupt in eight years.” That gives a false impression. The program does have huge financial problems, but there’s no reason to think it’s going out of business as the word “bankrupt” implies. And …
October 7, 2009
An average of 667 million pieces of mail are processed each day by the U.S. Postal Service.
Source: USPS
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of Sept. 29-Oct. 5
This week, readers sent us comments on medical errors, car insurance mandates and the postal service.
In the FactCheck Mailbag we feature some of the e-mail we receive. Readers can send comments to editor@factcheck.org. Letters may be edited for length.