The U.S. faces a health crisis. A new study --US Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health -- compared life expectancy and health in the U.S. with sixteen “peer” nations, and found that the U.S. ranked 16th in life expectancy and fared worse than its peers in at least nine health areas, including drug related deaths. The media, however, inaccurately reported that the study concluded addiction is “a choice”. For example, CNN’s January 9th coverage of the study stated:
“Although Americans know what is ‘good’ for them, few act on it. Although we are less likely to smoke and drink heavily than our peers, we consume more calories, have higher rates of drug abuse, are less likely to use seat belts, and are more likely to use guns in acts of violence, according to the report”.
Further, in an opinion article on the study that CNN ran on January 11th, the author calls addiction a “[choice made] at a personal level”.
This is a distortion of the study’s findings -- the study never stated that drug abuse was tantamount to Americans “knowing what was good for them and not acting on it”. Addiction is not a choice. Science established this decades ago when addiction was proven to be a disease.
Addiction is not like choosing to forego wearing a seatbelt. The disease is a life threatening illness affecting 23 million Americans. Each year, addiction kills 116,000 people, including 3,500 children, in the U.S. Substance abuse is the second leading cause of death among children aged 15-19. Will power or knowledge, alone, are not effective in stopping addiction -- anymore than they are effective in stopping the progress of a cancer. As Gil Kerlikowske, the Director of National Drug Control Policy, recently stressed, in announcing a new focus on recovery in battling the Substance Abuse Epidemic, addiction is a disease, not a moral failing -- or a choice. News agencies need to get this right.
The new study concluded that with lives and dollars at stake, the U.S. must take immediate action to improve the life expectancy and health of Americans by understanding why the U.S. lags behind other peer nations so that appropriate health objectives and strategies can be implemented. It noted that not only a list of goals, but a societal commitment of effort were required to meet this challenge. Accurate media reporting on one of the health issues contributing to America’s health crisis is, therefore, essential.
Lisa M. Jacobsen