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The Role of Law in Reducing Injury

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2021

Tom Christoffel
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Extract

Fatal injuries are the leading cause of death in the United States up to age 44 and “kill more Americans aged 1-34 than all diseases combined.” Injuries also constitute the nation's second most costly health problem—after heart disease—and because they disproportionately involve young people, they are the leading cause of productive years of life lost.

Until quite recently, most injuries were viewed as random, uncontrollable events. But this view is changing in the face of mounting evidence that many of the 140,000 injury-related deaths, as well as a large percentage of the estimated 70 million non-fatal injuries annually, were not inevitable.

As in the case of disease, prevention is becoming a major tool in reducing the injury toll. In the development of effective prevention strategies, the law can play a pivotal part. But to make proper use of this preventive approach, there must be considerably more planning, coordination and determination in its application.

Type
Article
Information
Law, Medicine and Healthcare , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , Spring 1989 , pp. 7 - 16
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 1989

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References

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