Tag: overdoses

Life expectancy lowest since 1996 because of COVID, overdoses: CDC

Life expectancy in the United States is at its shortest since 1996, dragged down by an increase in COVID and drug overdose deaths, according to federal data.

Coronavirus caused the third-most deaths in the US in 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday, with only heart disease and cancer causing more.

Drug overdoses, which are counted among accidental injuries, were the fourth-leading cause of death. 

There were 106,999 overdose deaths in 2021, a 16% increase from the 92,000 deaths in 2020. 

And the rate of drug fatalities involving opioids like fentanyl and tramadol spiked 22% from 2020 to 2021, while deaths from heroin overdoses fell 32% over the same period. 

Medical equipment at a supervised injection site in New York City.
Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag
Health care workers transport the body of a COVID victim in Brooklyn in April 2020.
Health care workers transport the body of a COVID victim in Brooklyn in April 2020.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Americans 65 and older saw the largest increase in ODs — 28% from 2020 to 2021. 

COVID deaths increased 18.8% — from 350,831 in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, to 416,893 in 2021. 

In all, the CDC said, a total of 3,464,231 Americans died in 2020, 80,502 more than in 2021.

A community COVID-19 memorial at the gate of Greenwood Cemetery in June 2021.
Getty Images

As a result, the overall US life expectancy fell to 76.4 years last year from an even 77 in 2020. 

Among males, life expectancy dropped from 74.2 years in 2020 to 73.5 years in 2021, while it decreased from 79.9 years in 2020 to 79.3 years in 2021 in females.

Americans who reached the age of 65 were expected to live another 18.4 years as of 2021, down slightly from 2020.

For men aged 65, additional life expectancy remained the same at 17 years, while for women, life expectancy fell to 19.7 in 2021 from 19.8 in 2020.

Rounding out the top 10 killers of Americans were stroke, chronic respiratory diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, cirrhosis, and kidney disease. 

Of the top 10 causes of US death, COVID-19 had the highest increase in mortality rate — 22.5% — from 2020 to 2021.

The second highest rate increase was 12.3% for accidents, 9% for cirrhosis, 7.1% for kidney disease, 5.9% for stroke, 2.4% for diabetes, 3.3% for heart disease, and 1.7% for cancer. 

Mortality rates fell for 4.7% for chronic respiratory diseases and 4.3% for Alzheimer’s disease.

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Florida cop treated for overdose after exposure to fentanyl

A Florida police officer was given three doses of Narcan after she was exposed to fentanyl and reportedly overdosed during a traffic stop Tuesday.

Shocking video shows the moment Tavares Officer Courtney Bannick was administered the opioid overdose-reversing drug as she lay motionless on the side of a road just after midnight.

Bannick found narcotics — which police believe contained the deadly drug — in a rolled-up dollar bill inside the vehicle she and the other officers pulled over, according to local reports.

Shortly after, she began struggling to breathe.

Another officer at the scene heard her choking and breathless over her radio and walked over. He found her drifting “in and out of consciousness and needing immediate medical attention,” the Tavares Police Department said in a release obtained by Click Orlando.

A police officer in Florida was exposed to fentanyl and reportedly overdosed during a traffic stop Tuesday.
Tavares Police Department

That officer and two others laid Bannick on the ground and quickly administered Narcan. She was brought back and was talking before she again lost consciousness and appeared to have stopped breathing, the body cam footage released by the department shows.

“She was completely lifeless. She looks deceased in these videos,” Tavares Police Det. Courtney Sullivan told Fox 35 Orlando. “So she’s very thankful today.”

In total, the cops gave Bannick three doses of Narcan before an ambulance arrived and took her to an area hospital. She is expected to make a full recovery.

The officer was administered three doses of narcan.
Tavares Police Department

The officers believe Bannick, who was wearing gloves when handling the narcotics, may have been exposed due to the wind blowing the drugs into her system. The officers planned to test the substance at the station and not at the scene because it was so windy.

“I have done this one-hundred times before the same way. It only takes one time and a minimal amount,” Bannick said. “I’m thankful I wasn’t alone and had immediate help.”

She requested that the alarming video be released in order to spread awareness of the dangers of fentanyl.

Barrick is expected to make a full recovery.
Tavares Police Department

“If the other officers weren’t there, there’s a very high chance and probability that today would be different and that we would be wearing our thin blue line –  the straps that go over our badges,” Sullivan said.

The individuals who were pulled over by the officers and allegedly had the drugs in their possession are facing possible felony charges. Their names have not been released because they haven’t been charged yet, the department said.

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