Drug deaths for 2016 were tallied at 63,600, up from 52,000 in 2015. This year is likely to continue the trend. Fentanyl is being blamed. In other words, drug manufacturers, the companies supposedly in the business of saving lives, have been so negligent with our health that they are responsible for a drop in the life expectancy of the entire United States. Let that sink in. These are the companies that produce cough medicine, baby shampoo, and vaccines for us and our children.

I think we should take it very seriously. If you look at the other developed countries in the world, they’re not seeing this kind of thing. Life expectancy is going up.” – Bob Anderson, chief of the Mortality Statistics Branch at the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the CDC

Since 1962 and 1963 influenza caused an inordinate number of deaths. Since then, the U.S. has only had a one-year drop in our life expectancy, which was during the worst of the AIDS epidemic. The number of people who fatally overdosed on fentanyl and other synthetic opiates rose from 9,580 in 2015 to 19,413 the following year. Deaths due to heroin increased almost 20 percent, and deaths from other opioid painkillers such as hydrocodone and oxycodone went up to 14 percent. At least 42,000 Americans died of opioid overdoses in 2016, which is reported to be a 28 percent increase from the previous year.

Keith Humphreys, an addiction specialist at Stanford University, says it’s even worse than it looks. Keith says that the research has shown official figures could be undercounting the true number of opioid deaths by 20 percent or more,

…we could easily be at 50,000 opioid deaths last year,” he said. “This means that even if you ignored deaths from all other drugs, the opioid epidemic alone is deadlier than the AIDS epidemic at its peak.”

The opioid addiction in the U.S. is affecting other countries too.

The biggest challenge China faces in cracking down on the smuggling of opioids is the huge demand from the US. The United States should strengthen its educational and publicity campaigns to reduce domestic demand, intensify its crackdown on internet-based drug crimes, and share more lab data with China to improve our detection and verification capabilities.” – Yu Haibin, a senior official with the Narcotics Control Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, the country’s top law enforcement agency.

Recommended Reading:

• Besieged by Guilt: Ex-Pharmaceutical Employees Speak Out Against the Industry
• How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children
• Why I Stopped Taking Prescription Drugs

Sources:

• Fueled by drug crisis, U.S. life expectancy declines for a second straight year – The Washington Post
• China says US not doing enough to cut demand for opioids – CNN

It’s no secret that health in the United States ranks lower than that of many other industrialized nations but did you know it was this bad?

Life Expectancy

According to the World Fact Book (data compiled by the CIA) the United States ranks 43rd for life expectancy at birth.  with an expectancy of 79.68 years, nearly a full 10 years behind Monaco, the country holding the number one spot at 89.52 years. The 41 countries in between include Japan, Hong Kong, many of the European nations, Canada, and Israel.

Maternal Death Rate

There are 47 countries that had a lower maternal death rate in 2010 (the latest available data). In the United States, 21 women die from complications per 100,000 live births compared to 2 per 100,000 in Estonia, 3 in Greece, 3 in Singapore, 4 in Italy, and so on.

Infant Mortality Rate

The infant mortality rate, the number of infants who die before reaching their first birthday, is another shameful ranking – with 5.87 deaths per 1,000 live births. A terrible ranking with 57 countries ahead of us. Again, Monaco takes the top spot with 1.82 deaths per 1,000 births.

Fetal Death Rate

In 2011-2013, the fetal death rate, the rate of miscarriage after 20 weeks gestation, surpassed the infant mortality rate, though the numbers are very close. In 2013, the rate was 5.96 per 1,000 live births, giving the United States a high rate of loss before and after birth. What does this say about the health of our nation?

Health Expenditures

In 2012, the United States actually rank number one in this category – health expenditures – 17.9% of the GDP. Let’s compare that to Monaco with its greatest life expectancy and lowest infant mortality. It ranked 155 on the list of 191 countries with 4.40%. Estonia, with its lowest maternal death rate, ranked 113 with 5.90%.

Conclusion

Something is very wrong with this picture. We spend the most on healthcare but our lifespan is shorter than the leading nation. What do we have an abundance of? An ever growing abundance of vaccines and processed “foods” filled with genetically modified organisms, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, and pesticides.

We can choose a healthy lifestyle. We can choose alternative health care and focus on nutrition as our primary source of healing. We can choose to live an organic lifestyle.

Further Reading:

• Doctors Against Vaccines – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research
• Gluten, Candida, Leaky Gut Syndrome, and Autoimmune Diseases
• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

Sources:

• The World Factbook : Country Comparison- Life Expectancy at Birth – Central Intelligence Agency
• The World Factbook : Country Comparison- Maternal Death Rate – Central Intelligence Agency
• The World Factbook : Country Comparison- Infant Mortality Rate – Central Intelligence Agency
• Fetal Deaths Outnumber Infant Deaths for First Time in US – Medscape