EPIDEMIC

U.S. Death Rate Up 1st Time in a Decade

Rises in suicide, drug ODs, Alzheimer’s.

The U.S. death rate rose for the first time in a decade last year, according to new federal data. New numbers from the National Center for Health Statistics show more Americans are dying from drug overdoses, suicide, and Alzheimer’s disease. The rates have been declining for years amid improvements in medical technology, disease management, and overall health. While certain groups, like less-educated whites, have seen sharp rises in death rates due to the prescription-drug epidemic, national increases for the entire population have become exceedingly rare. Robert Anderson, chief of mortality statistics at the NCHS, said it’s significant because the uptick doesn’t usually happen. “But the question is,” he added, “what does it mean? We really need more data to know. If we start looking at 2016 and we see another rise, we’ll be a lot more concerned.”