“DEADLY IMPACT”? FROM WHERE?

Continuing in a long line of over-hyped, anxiety-ridden headlines by mainstream media, the Wall Street Journal published this last Thursday:

U.S. Life Expectancy Fell in First Half of 2020 as COVID-19 Deaths Surged

The article cites data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics that show life expectancy dropped by a full year during the first six months of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
The article states, “The one-year decline from the previous year was the largest drop since World War II, when life expectancy fell 2.9 years between 1942 and 1943. It put life expectancy at its lowest level in the U.S. since 2006.”
The data shows that minorities suffered more from the coronavirus during this period than whites. “Life expectancy for Black Americans decreased 2.7 years for the first half of 2020 to 72 years, and for Hispanics, it fell 1.9 years to 79.9 years. Among non-Hispanic whites, it declined 0.8 year to 78 years.”
One calculation showed the gap in life expectancy between white Americans and Blacks is wider than it’s been in over 20 years. Whites are now living on average six years longer. Interestingly, Hispanics live longer than whites by almost two years.
The Punch Line
Buried toward the end of the article comes a fact that undermines the entire premise stated near the beginning where the co-author of the CDC report, Elizabeth Arias, is quoted: “It’s very concerning when we see mortality increase to such a degree. It gives you a clear picture of the magnitude of the effect of the COVID pandemic.”
But the picture only becomes “clear” when analyzing a fact not cited until nearly the end of the article: “An increase in drug-related deaths also contributed to the lower life expectancy early last year, Ms. Arias said.”
This “increase” in drug-related deaths during the extended lockdowns in all but four U.S. states was substantial. According to the CDC report:
“Overdose deaths for July 2020—the latest month on record—numbered 83,544 for the preceding 12-month period, a roughly 25% increase from July of 2019. The federal agency warned that the actual number of deaths for that period could run as high as 86,000 pending more data.”
Add to this the fact that, according to the American Addiction Centers website, “The number of fatal overdoses increases with age, peaking at 45–54-years-old and then falling. Those in the 45–54 age group have the highest number of deaths out of all demographic.”
TRENDPOST: Given that the age group with the highest drug overdose deaths is 45 to 54, and given the added stresses created by the economic and social lockdowns, which have been shown to have caused increased prescription and illegal drug use, it’s logical to conclude that the lockdowns were responsible in large part for the drop in life expectancy rates. (See our 15 September article, “COVID LOCKDOWNS INCREASE DRUG ABUSE.”)