U.S. losing ground on preventable deaths

When it comes to "preventable deaths," the United States trails other industrialized nations and has been falling further behind over the past decade. Although the United States now spends $2.4 trillion a year on medical care, the nation ranks near the bottom on premature deaths caused by illnesses such as diabetes, epilepsy, stroke, influenza, ulcers, and pneumonia, according to research by the nonpartisan Commonwealth Fund.