BREAKING U.S. Medical News! Study Shows Unprecedented Excess Death Rates In America In 2020 And 2021. White Americans Under The Age Of 65 At Risk!
U.S. Medical News - Unprecedented Excess Death Rates - America - 2020 And 2021 Jul 18, 2023 1 year, 5 months, 6 days, 10 hours, 30 minutes ago
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in 1,009,467 excess deaths in 2020 and 1,090,103 in 2021 with the trend still continuing!
U.S. Medical News: A groundbreaking study led by researchers from the Boston University School of Public Health has revealed alarming findings about excess death rates in the United States. The study refers to these excess deaths as "Missing Americans," highlighting the individuals who would still be alive if the US had mortality rates similar to other wealthy nations.
Excess deaths and YLL in the United States relative to other wealthy nations, 1933–2021. Source: Human Mortality Database. The panels show: A) deaths in the United States and the counterfactual; B) the difference between the two, i.e. the number of excess US deaths or “missing Americans” each year; C) and D) analogous plots for YLL, where each death is weighted by the age-specific life expectancy of other wealthy nations in the year it occurred
The study compared age-specific death rates in the US with 21 other affluent countries from 1933 to 2021. The results were shocking: the current death rates in the US are significantly higher than those in other wealthy nations, and the number of excess deaths has reached an unprecedented level.
Dr Jacob Bor, the lead researcher, described the number of Missing Americans in recent years as unparalleled in modern times
. The study revealed that nearly 50% of all Missing Americans died before the age of 65 in 2020 and 2021. This crisis of early death is particularly pronounced among working-age adults, highlighting the urgency of the situation. It is a unique and alarming phenomenon when compared to other wealthy nations.
While the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a sharp increase in mortality rates, the study demonstrated that the number of excess deaths has been escalating for the past four decades. The researchers analyzed trends in US deaths from 1933 to 2021 and compared them with age-specific mortality rates in various countries, including Canada, Japan, Australia, and 18 European nations.
Interestingly, the US had lower mortality rates than its peer countries during World War II and its aftermath. However, starting in the 1980s, the number of Missing Americans began to surge each year, reaching a staggering 622,534 annual excess deaths by 2019.
The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated the situation, resulting in 1,009,467 excess deaths in 2020 and 1,090,103 in 2021. Since 1980, there have been a total of 13.1 million Missing Americans.
It is essential to emphasize that this mortality crisis affects all racial and ethnic groups and is not specific to marginalized communities. However, Black and Native Americans are overrepresented in these distressing statistics, with mortality rates in early adulthood (ages 15-44) five and eight times higher, respectively, than the average of other wealthy nations. The researchers attribute these disparities to the historical legacy of structural racism in the US, including policies like slavery and redlining, which have contributed to racial and ethnic inequalities in wealth, education, housing, and healthcare access.
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Surprisingly, two-thirds of the Missing Americans are White. This is a result of the larger population of White Americans, their older age distribution, and significantly higher death rates compared to other wealthy nations. Dr Bor emphasizes that living in the US itself is a risk factor for early death, affecting Americans of all races and ethnicities.
According to the study team and also covered in previous
U.S. Medical News reports, the US policy environment, which prioritizes corporate interests over public health and social protections, is a significant contributor to this crisis, particularly among low-income individuals.
The study estimates that in 2021, the excess US mortality translated to a shocking 26.4 million years of life lost relative to the mortality rates of peer nations.
The researchers connect this burden of excess mortality to the failure of US policies to address critical public health issues such as the opioid epidemic, gun violence, environmental pollution, economic inequality, food insecurity, and workplace safety. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these issues, especially among vulnerable groups, and the expiration of safety-net policies has left them without vital support.
Dr Steffie Woolhandler, a senior author of the study, argues that while hundreds of billions of dollars are wasted each year on health insurers' profits and paperwork, millions of Americans struggle to afford medical care, healthy food, or decent housing. The politicians' alignment with corporate interests over public health has caused Americans to die younger than their counterparts in other nations.
Interestingly, other countries have experienced lower COVID-19 cases due to better health strategies and mask policies during the Omicron wave. This layered mitigation approach has proven effective in reducing cases.
The findings of this study raise urgent questions that require further research and policy attention. Identifying the geographic areas and causes of death responsible for the Missing Americans will help guide appropriate policy interventions.
Unfortunately, Dr Bor is not optimistic that mortality rates will reverse in the near future, as there have been no significant policy changes to alter this trajectory. In fact, the study team says that the excess deaths have been increasing phenomenally in 2022 and the trend is continuing in 2023.
The lack of focus on public health and social protections, coupled with the erosion of trust in government during the pandemic, poses a significant long-term impact on population health in the US.
Expanding public policies to prioritize health, as seen in other peer countries with higher life expectancies and better health outcomes, is crucial for addressing the mortality crisis. The study calls for immediate action to tackle these pressing issues, including comprehensive healthcare reform, social safety nets, and systemic changes to combat structural racism.
The future of COVID-19 mortality remains uncertain, but it is clear that the US mortality crisis extends beyond the pandemic. With over 600,000 Missing Americans annually even before the pandemic, and now more than a million each year, it is evident that the US must address the underlying issues that have led to these alarming excess death rates.
As this study's findings continue to reverberate, it is essential for policymakers, healthcare professionals, and the general public to acknowledge the gravity of the situation and work collectively to ensure a healthier future for all Americans. The time to prioritize public health and social protections is now.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: PNAS Nexus.
https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/2/6/pgad173/7185600
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