Chris Collins: People No Longer Die From Prostate, Breast Cancers

A reader points out a rather interesting passage from Republican Congressional candidate Chris Collins’ recent interview with The Batavian.

In discussing his desire to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Collins appears to state that the reason health care is so expensive in the United States is that people no longer actually die from prostate or breast cancers.

From the article:

“People now don’t die from prostate cancer, breast cancer and some of the other things,” Collins said. “The fact of the matter is, our healthcare today is so much better,  we’re living so much longer, because of innovations in drug development, surgical procedures, stents, implantable cardiac defibrillators, neural stimulators — they didn’t exist 10 years ago. The increase in cost is not because doctors are making a lot more money. It’s what you can get for healthcare, extending your life and curing diseases.”

But Adama Brown at Daily Kos has already pointed out that this, of course, is false:

“National Cancer Institute figures show a very different story: Breast cancer kills about 40,000 women a year in the US. Prostate cancer kills about 30,000 men. Five year mortality rates are 23% for breast cancer, 26% for prostate cancer. Only colorectal cancer and lung cancer kill more Americans.”

Collins, the former Erie County executive, has a history of verbal gaffes. When Collins was running for governor in 2010, he famously referred to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver as the “antichrist.”

Collins is running for Congress against Democratic Rep. Kathy Hochul.