Saturday, January 26, 2013

Do penalties for smokers and the obese make sense?

Do penalties for smokers and the obese make sense?

FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2007 file photo, a man smokes in Omaha, Neb. Annual health care costs are roughly $96 billion for smokers and $147 billion for the obese, the government says. These costs accompany sometimes heroic attempts to prolong their lives, including surgery, chemotherapy and other measures. But despite these rescue attempts, smokers tend to die 10 years earlier on average, and the obese die five to 12 years prematurely, according to various researchers' estimates. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)NEW YORK (AP) — Faced with the high cost of caring for smokers and overeaters, experts say society must grapple with a blunt question: Instead of trying to penalize them and change their ways, why not just let these health sinners die?



Source: news.yahoo.com
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