Inquirer:
“What surprised me the most was the impact of the opioid crisis on our overall vital statistics,” Health Commissioner Tom Farley said Thursday. “To see life expectancy going in the wrong direction has not occurred in this country for a long time.”
By Aubrey Whelan
Philly Magazine:
The just-released Health of the City report found that drug overdose deaths among Philadelphia residents increased nearly four-fold in recent years, with those deaths making a resounding mark on the city’s overall life expectancy — specifically on the rate of premature deaths (those that occur before age 75).
https://www.phillymag.com/news/2019/01/04/life-expectancy-overdose-epidemic/
By Claire Sasko
WHYY:
Raynard Washington, chief epidemiologist for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, said that disparity can be attributed primarily to poverty and social factors.
“Really underlying much of this is the social determinants of health — where people live, the environment in which they live in, their ability to be able to pay their bills, and acquire healthy food at affordable rates,” he said.
https://whyy.org/articles/biggest-health-problems-in-philadelphia-opioids-hiv-poverty/
By Alan Yu
Al Dia:
Amid a “nearly 4-fold” increase in drug overdose deaths in recent years, and a 14 percent uptick in homicides over the previous year, Philadelphia’s life expectancy declined in 2017, a report released last week by the city’s Department of Public Health found.
By David Maas
The Collected Works of Jim Garrow 