May 22, 2006—The total lifetime costs for medically treated injuries in 2000 will ultimately cost $406 billion, according to calculations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That includes $80.2 billion in medical care costs and $326 billion in productivity losses.
CDC published its findings in a new book, The Incidence and Economic Burden of Injuries in the United States, which examines these medical expenses and productivity losses by gender, age, mechanism of injury, body region and body part injured, and severity.
Other findings include:
- Males account for 70 percent of the total cost of all injuries.
- Persons between the ages of 25 and 44 represent 30 percent of the population but account for 40 percent of the total cost of all injuries.
- Motor vehicle and fall injuries account for 22 percent and 20 percent of the total costs of injuries.
The book, published by Oxford University Press, costs $45 and is available at the publishers Web site.
