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Is safetysm a sign of paternalistic medicine?

Joy Ride
3 min readFeb 15, 2022

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Photo by Chandri Anggara on Unsplash

Australian scientists have developed a new online tool to calculate relatable risks. Here are some interesting data that will allow you to put things in perspective.

Is winning a lottery a stroke of pure luck or mathematical statistics? I worked in a State lottery corporation for 20 years and was repeatedly asked for advice. Many people believe in having a fair chance of winning and attribute it to luck. The possibility of winning the 1st Division Powerball lotto in Australia in any given draw is ONLY one in 134 million. The chance of a pregnancy resulting in identical quadruplets is one in 15 million.

These are the strikes of good luck but life is still a fatal disease. Being born with an extra finger is a debatable good fortune; however, the cumulative lifetime chance of being born with extra digits on upper or lower limbs is one in one thousand according to Australian data. The annual chance of being diagnosed with cancer in 2022 in Australia is one in 200. Also in Australia, the annual chance of being hospitalized from a fall is one in 100. The annual chance of receiving a speeding ticket in Australia is one in 12. The annual chance of getting food poisoning in Australia is one in six. The cumulative life chance of developing shingles is one in 3.

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Joy Ride
Joy Ride

Written by Joy Ride

Learner, writer, biotech investor, research translation, drug development, genetics. 4-lingual.

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