Wednesday, December 23, 2015

ALCOHOL DEATHS HAVE REACHED A NEW HIGH

US alcohol deaths have reached a 35-year high, CDC finds

The Washington Post (12/23, Ingraham) “Wonkblog” reports that US alcohol deaths have reached a “35-year high.” In 2014, some “30,700 Americans died from alcohol-induced causes, including alcohol poisoning and cirrhosis.” Excluded from this figure are “deaths from drunk driving, other accidents, and homicides committed under the influence of alcohol.” Were those deaths to be “included, the annual toll of deaths directly or indirectly caused by alcohol would be closer to 90,000, according to” a CDC report published Dec. 18 in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
        TIME (12/23, Chan) points out, “Excessive alcohol use is a leading cause of preventable death, according to the” CDC, accounting “for about 88,000 deaths each” year “from 2006 to 2010, health officials said.”