Mortality, morbidity and suffering associated with a given medical procedure or disease. Life costs of diagnosis and therapy may be contrasted with their financial costs, the money required for their provision. Life costs of treating a disease can be compared with the mortality, morbidity and suffering (life costs) resulting from the untreated disease, while financial costs are compared with the various monetary costs of not treating the disease. Use of life costs in assessing the costs of medical procedures avoids the need for assigning dollar values to mortality and morbidity.