US Life Expectancy Falls to 78.6 Years; Overdose, Suicide Deaths Climb

US life expectancy at birth continued to decline in 2017, from 78.7 years to 78.6, largely due to increase deaths from unintentional injuries, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to separate reports examining deaths from drug overdoses and suicide, the overdose death rate increased 9.6 percent in 2017, including a 45 percent jump due to synthetic opioids other than methadone, and the suicide death rate has increased by one-third since 1999