If the U.S. had performed as well as the top three countries identified in the study, there would have been 101,000 fewer deaths in the U.S. per year by the end of the study period, according to a the new study published in the January/February issue of the journal Health Affairs.
France finished first, followed by Japan and Australia.
Researchers Ellen Nolte and Martin McKee compared trends in preventable deaths for the years 1997-1998 and 2002-2003.
In 1997-1998, the U.S. ranked 15th out of 19 countries on preventable deaths, but fell to last place in 2002-2003 with 109 preventable deaths for every 100,000 people.
In contrast, mortality rates per 100,000 people in the leading countries were: France (64), Japan (71), and Australia (71).
Other countries included in the study were Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, according to Fox News.
