Calling deaths ‘preventable’ can obscure barriers to health care access and shift blame to individuals
- Written by Zachary W. Schulz, Senior Lecturer of History, Auburn University
Deaths from so-called preventable causes often follow familiar policy lines.Tonpor Kasa/iStock via Getty Images PlusEach year in the U.S., tens of thousands of deaths are categorized as “preventable” — meaning, in theory, they did not need to happen. A missed cancer screening, a fatal asthma attack or a death from untreated...