The cost of pain
TJ Smith, BE Hillner�- JAMA Network Open, 2019 - jamanetwork.com
Pain is expensive. The National Academy of Sciences estimated in 2010 that more than 100
million American individuals experienced chronic unrelieved pain. 1 The estimated cost was
$560 billion to $635 billion per year, 2 composed of direct health care costs ($261 billion to
$300 billion), days of work missed ($11.6 billion to $12.7 billion), hours of work missed
($95.2 billion to $96.5 billion), and lower wages ($190.6 billion to $226.3 billion.) The cost of
pain was more than that of heart disease and cancer treatments. What if we had a pain�…
million American individuals experienced chronic unrelieved pain. 1 The estimated cost was
$560 billion to $635 billion per year, 2 composed of direct health care costs ($261 billion to
$300 billion), days of work missed ($11.6 billion to $12.7 billion), hours of work missed
($95.2 billion to $96.5 billion), and lower wages ($190.6 billion to $226.3 billion.) The cost of
pain was more than that of heart disease and cancer treatments. What if we had a pain�…