Ronald C. Kessler is professor in the Department of Health Care Policy at the Harvard Medical School. He is coeditor of several volumes, including, most recently, "How Healthy Are We? A National Study of Well-Being at Midlife," also published by the University of Chicago Press. Paul E. Stang is associate professor in the College of Health Sciences at the West Chester University of Pennsylvania and executive vice president and chief scientific officer at Galt Associates, a medical risk management consulting firm.