Tag: Deidre McPhillips

Drug overdose deaths top 100,000 annually for the first time, driven by fentanyl, CDC data show

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/17/health/drug-overdose-deaths-record-high/index.html

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Excerpt:

More than 100,000 people died of drug overdoses in the United States during the 12-month period ending April 2021, according to provisional data published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That’s a new record high, with overdose deaths jumping 28.5% from the same period a year earlier and nearly doubling over the past five years.

Opioids continue to be the driving cause of drug overdose deaths. Synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, caused nearly two-thirds (64%) of all drug overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending April 2021, up 49% from the year before, the CDC’s ‘s National Center for Health Statistics found.

Author(s): Deidre McPhillips

Publication Date: 17 Nov 2021

Publication Site: CNN

US life expectancy dropped a full year in first half of 2020, according to CDC

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/18/health/life-expectancy-fell-pandemic/index.html

Excerpt:

“A year of life expectancy lost doesn’t really give you a true sense of how serious this has been. Millions of life years were actually lost,” Eileen Crimmins, a professor at the University of Southern California who has researched changes in mortality, told CNN. “Covid is on track to cause more deaths than cancer or heart disease, and that’s important.”Most deaths due to Covid-19 have been among older adults, which would have a small effect on overall life expectancy.

But Theresa Andrasfay, a researcher at the University of Southern California who has published work on the potential impact of Covid-19 on life expectancy, notes that while deaths among younger adults may be less common, the numbers are still substantial.

Author(s): Deidre McPhillips

Publication Date: 18 February 2021

Publication Site: CNN