Soaring overdose deaths cut US life expectancy for 2nd year

by MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer

Thu, December 21st 2017, 4:34 PM UTC

FILE – In this Feb. 2, 2017, file photo, used needles litter the ground at an open air drug market along Conrail train tracks in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. (Michael Bryant /The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP, File){p}{/p}

FILE - In this May 19, 2013 file photo, Prince performs at the Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. skyrocketed 21 percent in 2016, dragging down life expectancy predictions for a second straight year, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

Chart shows drug-related death rates from 1999 to 2016. (AP)

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FILE – In this Feb. 2, 2017, file photo, used needles litter the ground at an open air drug market along Conrail train tracks in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. (Michael Bryant /The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP, File)

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