Researchers Stand by Study on Puerto Rico Death Toll After Trump’s Tweets
The researchers behind a study revealing an alarmingly high death toll in Puerto Rico have stood by that study in the face of President Donald Trump‘s baseless tweets this morning.
To recap: Trump has touted the federal government’s response to the hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico as a success, even though the death toll was recently updated to 2,975. After this was pointed out a lot on cable news this week, the President took to Twitter to suggest some kind of conspiracy:
3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 13, 2018
…..This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 13, 2018
The Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, which published that initial study, has a statement out today saying they stand by it:
We stand by the science underlying our study which found there were an estimated 2,975 excess deaths in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
Researchers at the Milken Institute SPH in collaboration with scientists at the University of Puerto Rico Graduate School of Public Health analyzed mortality, via use of death certificates and related information, from September 2017 through the end of February 2018. Using a state-of-the-art mathematical model, the team compared the total number of deaths during that time to the expected number based on historical patterns as well as age, sex, socioeconomic status and migration from the island.
This study, commissioned by the Government of Puerto Rico, was carried out with complete independence and freedom from any kind of interference.
Our results show that Hurricane Maria was a very deadly storm, one that affected the entire island but hit the poor and the elderly the hardest. We are confident that the number – 2,975 – is the most accurate and unbiased estimate of excess mortality to date.
The report, “Ascertainment of the Estimated Excess Mortality from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico,” can be accessed here.
[photo via Getty Images]
