Two top Biden administration officials warn of threat to U.S. children if anti-vaccine views prevail CDC, FDA officials stress that kids could pay an unnecessary toll

https://www.statnews.com/2024/11/13/vaccines-public-health-mandy-cohen-peter-marks/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8wIIoqxIKkjeMzmkQwMfKc4_A7csDsbSED03FY8SeQM3tEZJPMGRdjvWefM3TK7agRwt2wHoULlvJYhU2ogUGCyKxCCw&_hsmi=333852465&utm_content=333852465&utm_source=hs_email Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. fell to 93,087 during the 12-month period ending in June, according to new CDC statistics released this week. That nearly 17% drop will likely send the yearly toll below 100,000 deaths for the first time since 2020. Fentanyl, the potent illicit opioid that now dominates the U.S. illicit drug supply, is responsible for a large share of the 111,615 deaths attributed to overdoses in 2023. The decline could be a blip in the data, but CDC Director Mandy Cohen said otherwise yesterday during a panel at the Milken Institute’s Future of Health Summit in Washington, D.C. She cited the increased use of harm-reduction resources like fentanyl test strips, as well as immediately connecting people who survive overdoses to longer-term addiction care. STAT’s Lev Facher has more. U.S. drug overdose deaths on pace to fall below 100,000 this year ‘It is a real trend, and that’s great,’ CDC director says, but urges persistence https://www.statnews.com/2024/11/13/overdose-deaths-decline-cdc-reports-under-100-thousand-fatalities/