ABSTRACT
Can we afford personalized medicine when the U.S. medical care system is the second most expensive medical system in the world?
Discussion on the state of the medical care system in the United States is based on reports from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Figure 10.1). e CDC was begun in 1946 in order to prevent the spread of malaria in the United States. Since 1946, the role of the CDC has expanded and it is now one of the main operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services. e CDC promotes health with agencies prepared to prevent and curtail the spread of disease. When we look at the CDC reports on medical care in the United States that are highlighted in this chapter (National Center for Health Statistics 2014), there are some promising changes occurring in our country’s medical care system. Examples that are promising are the decrease in the infant mortality rate, the decrease in infant birth rates in teenagers, the decreases in deaths from heart disease and cancer, and the increases in life expectancy in both males and females to an average of 78.7 years in 2010. In addition, the dierence in life expectancy between blacks and whites is narrowing to 3.8 years, but the mortality rate of infants of black mothers is still high at 11.63% compared to 5.20% for whites, but it is decreasing. In 2010, 24% of deaths in the United States were from heart disease and 23% from cancer.
