Two new studies using federal health care and hospital data underscore that the repercussions from firearm deaths and injuries are deeper, wider and far costlier than previously known, reports NPR.
One, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found a four-fold increase in health care spending as a direct result of a non-fatal firearm injury.
Researchers in the study also charted a substantial increase in other health disorders that undermine a person’s health and well-being.
“In the first year after a non-fatal firearm injury, survivors experienced a 40 percent increase in physical pain or other forms of pain syndromes; a 50 percent increase in psychiatric disorders; and an 85 percent increase in substance use disorders,” said Dr. Zirui Song, one of the study’s authors.
Song’s study shows 96 percent of the increase in health care spending on firearm injuries is shouldered by Medicare and U.S. employers.
Meanwhile, a second study by Everytown for Gun Safety says that the direct and indirect costs from all gun violence in America cost the nation $557 billion annually and that society loses some $1.34 billion every day for pain and suffering related to all victims of gun violence.
Sarah Burd-Sharps, research director at the gun control advocacy group, believes the true annual figure is even higher.