Whiplash, first described in a medical journal in 1953, now occurs so frequently that in the U.S. alone its annual cost is estimated at between $13 and $18 billion dollars. In Whiplash and the Exploitation of Victimhood Andrew Malleson contends that whiplash is nothing more than a strain of the neck and, like most other strains, heals in a matter of days or weeks. The fact that up to 10% of all whiplash "victims" are reported as permanently disabled occurs because medical healthcare and legal professionals foster and create illnesses, dangling illusive fortunes in front of would-be claimants.