Fenelon comments on U.S. mortality rate decline
Return to expected declining rate after 2015 increase
Sabrina Tavernise reports in the New York Times that "the death rate in the United States declined in the first quarter of this year, preliminary data show, a return to normal for a crucial health measure that showed a rare increase in 2015." She noted that the data from the National Center for Health Statistics were estimates but that they came as relief to researchers after a rare increase spotted in 2015.
Faculty Associate Andrew Fenelon, who came to Maryland from NCHS, told Tavernise, "This is good news, given that there was an increase in mortality in 2015. Maybe the 2015 increase was a quick blip and the trend of decline will continue."