Abstract
The United States has two policies that contribute substantially to its excessive health care costs: (1) neglect of application of cost-effective injury reduction programs and (2) required medical treatment of the injured on demand. The neglect of effective prevention programs is partly due to a non sequitur espoused since the early days of the automobile by its manufacturers (Eastman, 1984) and in recent decades by some professionals in public health, medicine, and engineering: Behavior is a major factor in injury causation; therefore, behavior must be changed to reduce injury. This false bromide is often applied as well to other major health problems, such as cancer and heart disease (e.g., American Public Health Association, 1994).
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Robertson, L.S. (1997). Health Policy, Health Behavior, and Injury Control. In: Gochman, D.S. (eds) Handbook of Health Behavior Research IV. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0484-3_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0484-3_12
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