CDC study shows injuries and violence create substantial economic burden
The total cost of injuries and violence in the United States was $671 billion in 2013, according to two Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWR) released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The cost associated with fatal injuries was $214 billion; nonfatal injuries was $457 billion. Each year, more than three million people are hospitalized, 27 million people are treated in emergency departments and released, and more than 192,000 die as a result of unintentional and violence related injuries.
“Injuries cost Americans far too much money, suffering, and preventable death,” said CDC director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “The doubling of deaths by drug poisoning, including prescription drug overdose and heroin, is particularly alarming.”