Counting Deaths

In the WSJ Blog:   The consequence of what is commonly call a harvesting effect, in statistical models.   Using the data, often reported in the news, of how many people died in heat waves, or shoveling snow.  Had always wondered about this data.  Also seen that in recording manufacturing system failures. How much does a variable context influence an event?  For this case in health, how many of those people would have died without an extreme weather context.  And then, how much the extreme context influences earlier death (failure).  The article points out that the general problem in healthcare is unsolved. Thought provoking ....