NEW YORK (AP) — The number of U.S. fatal overdoses fell last year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data posted Wednesday.
Agency officials noted the data is provisional and could change after more analysis, but that they still expect a drop when the final counts are in. It would be only the second annual decline since the current national drug death epidemic began more than three decades ago.
Experts reacted cautiously. One described the decline as relatively small, and said it should be thought more as part of a leveling off than a decrease. Another noted that the last time a decline occurred — in 2018 — drug deaths shot up in the years that followed.
“Any decline is encouraging,” said Brandon Marshall, a Brown University researcher who studies overdose trends. “But I think it’s certainly premature to celebrate or to draw any large-scale conclusions about where we may be headed long-term with this crisis.”
What's next for Iran after death of its president in crash?
Lily Gladstone will appear opposite with SNL's Bowen Yang in remake of 1993 rom
Enzo Fernandez has undergone surgery and will miss the rest of Chelsea's season
Kristin Cavallari, 37, ignores critics of her age
Mining giant BHP Billiton makes $39 billion bid for Anglo American to expand copper operations
German driver Nico Hülkenberg to leave Haas for Sauber next year ahead of Audi's arrival in F1
A Turkish court sentences a Syrian woman to life in prison for a bombing in Istanbul in 2022
Biden says Brown v. Board of Education ruling was about more than education
Jason Kelce addresses claims his Super Bowl ring was STOLEN after New Heights live show with Travis