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Previous Volume 331:193-196 July 21, 1994 Number 3 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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As a society and as individuals, we Americans are preoccupied with risks, particularly risks to life. From AIDS to cancer to heart disease, from Alar to asbestos to benzene, from eating to drinking to smoking -- we worry about all the risks of living. We allocate substantial time, effort, and money to reducing risks, yet most of us believe that our world is riskier now than it was a generation ago. This simply is not so. Life expectancy in the United States has increased despite the scourges of cancer, AIDS, and violent crime. Still, major national and personal agendas to . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Life Is Not and Cannot Be Free of Risk

Policies Intended to Reduce Risks Entail Other Risks

The Economic Costs of Risk Reduction Induce Risks

Identifiable Deaths Are Not the Same as Statistical Deaths

Evaluating Risks Requires Values

Effective Decisions about Risks Require Trade-offs between Objectives

It Is Not Unethical to Weigh Economic Costs against the Risk of Loss of Life

References

Related Letters:

Which Research Results Should the Public Believe?
Hazinski T. A., Chatterton H. T., Angell M., Kassirer J. P.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1995; 332:963-964, Apr 6, 1995. Correspondence

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