The Washington Post (3/31) reports a recent study published in JAMA found that “from 2009 to 2019, avoidable mortality increased by an average of 33 deaths per 100,000 people across the United States.” In contrast, avoidable deaths “dropped by an average of nearly 23 deaths per 100,000 across all other countries in the study” during the same period, with European Union countries reducing avoidable deaths by an average of 25 per 100,000. The study noted significant state-by-state variations within the US, “ranging from five avoidable deaths in New York to 100 per 100,000 in West Virginia.” The rise in US deaths was primarily attributed to “external causes such as traffic accidents, homicides, suicides, and drugs and alcohol. Among external causes, drug-related deaths were responsible for 71 percent of the increase in avoidable deaths.” The study also observed a spike in avoidable mortality numbers from 2019 to 2021 across all examined regions, largely due to COVID-19.
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