Expanding the basic life tables in an economic damage calculation

(or where you live can kill you...)

New Harvard study finds that where a person lives can have a significant impact on a person life expectancy. For example, persons in locales where the education level and income level are relatively higher tend to have longer life expectancies. The effects can be dramatic in some instances. For example, individuals in counties with large college populations such as Travis County (TX), (UT-Austin) can have up to a three year longer expected life span than others living in more rural areas.

The study publishes the data by county. This study could, in some circumstances, significantly change the final bottom line economic damage number in an injury or wrongful death case.

The full citation for the study is:

Murray CJL, Kulkarni SC, Michaud C, Tomijima N, Bulzacchelli MT, et al. (2006) Eight Americas: Investigating Mortality Disparities across Races, Counties, and Race-Counties in the United States. PLoS Med 3(9): e260

The journal is a peer-reviewed but freely available to all.