COVID-19, overdoses pushed US to highest death total ever

By MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal data confirms that 2021 was the deadliest year in U.S. history. New research is offering more insights into how it got that bad. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this month quietly updated its provisional death statistics, showing there were more than 3.46 million deaths last year. That’s about 80,000 more than 2020′s record tally. Experts say COVID-19 was the major reason. But a new study released Tuesday shows an unprecedented spike in adolescent drug overdose deaths also played a role. Researchers also believe U.S. life expectancy dropped another five or six months in 2021 — putting it back to where it was 20 years ago.