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Medical Spending for the 2001 Anthrax Letter Attacks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 November 2018

Nicholas A. Zacchia  and
Ketra Schmitt
Nicholas A. Zacchia*
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Ketra Schmitt
Affiliation:
Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Nicholas A. Zacchia, University of British Columbia, 2360 E Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3 (e-mail: Canada [email protected]).
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Abstract

Introduction

This paper assesses the total medical costs associated with the US anthrax letter attacks of 2001. This information can be used to inform policies, which may help mitigate the potential economic impacts of similar bioterrorist attacks.

Methods

Journal publications and news reports were reviewed to establish the number of people who were exposed, were potentially exposed, received prophylactics, and became ill. Where available, cost data from the anthrax letter attacks were used. Where data were unavailable, high, low, and best cost estimates were developed from the broader literature to create a cost model and establish economic impacts.

Results

Medical spending totaled approximately $177 million.

Conclusions

The largest expenditures stemmed from self-initiated prophylaxis (worried well): people who sought prophylactic treatment without any indication that they had been exposed to anthrax letters. This highlights an area of focus for mitigating the economic impacts of future disasters. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:539-546)

Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , June 2019 , pp. 539 - 546
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 

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