US reports highest number of measles cases since 2019: CDC

(NEW YORK) — Drug overdose deaths dropped in the United States last year to the lowest levels seen in five years, according to a new federal report published Wednesday morning.

The provisional report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics found nationwide drug overdose deaths fell from 110,037 in 2023 to 80,391 in 2024.

This represents a decline of 26.9% and the lowest figure of annual drug overdose deaths since 2019, according to the report.

This is the second year in a row that drug overdose deaths have dropped after year-over-year increases were seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, and researchers say they’re cautiously optimistic about the declines.

“We should have a guarded enthusiasm here because what we’re seeing is almost the return to the overdose death rates that we had before the pandemic,” Dr. Petros Levounis, a professor and chair of the department of psychiatry and associate decant of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, who was not involved in the report, told ABC News.

“So essentially, we have corrected the bump and the increase in overdose deaths we experienced with the pandemic,” he added.

The report found the biggest drop in deaths by drug type was seen in fatalities linked to synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, which fell from 76,282 to 48,422 between 2023 and 2024.

Declines were also seen in overdose deaths from psychostimulants, such as methamphetamine; cocaine; and natural or semi-synthetic drugs such as morphine.

Additionally, nearly every state across the country saw decreases in drug overdose deaths. Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin, as well as Washington, D.C., saw declines of 35% or more from 2023 to 2024, according to the report.

By comparison, South Dakota and Nevada each saw slight increases in 2024 compared to 2023, the report found.

Lavounis, who is also the director of Rutgers’ Northern New Jersey Medications for Addiction Treatment Center of Excellence, said public health officials should also pay attention to Alaska, where opioid overdoses have steadily been increasing since at least 2018.

Overdose rates in Alaska have reached historic levels, according to CDC data, due to a proliferation of fentanyl

Fentanyl is up to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine and can be deadly even in small doses, according to the CDC. Other drugs may be laced with deadly levels of fentanyl, and a user is not able to see it, taste it, or smell it.
Experts told ABC News they believe there a few reasons behind the drop in overdose deaths. One reason is the more widespread use of naloxone, the overdose reversal drug.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Narcan for over-the-counter use in March 2023.

Narcan, made by the company Emergent BioSolutions, is given as a nasal spray and naloxone — the active ingredient in the medication — can quickly restore one’s breathing if an individual is experiencing an opioid overdose, though its effect is temporary and some people may need additional doses.

Harm reduction groups and other experts have been pushing for easier access to naloxone as one strategy to help prevent some of the tens of thousands of overdose deaths that occur each year in the U.S.

Dr. Allison Lin, an addiction psychiatrist at University of Michigan Medical School, who was not involved in the report, said there has also been wider use of medications to treat opioid use disorder as well as an increase of public awareness of the dangers of opioid use.

“These are the things that we know, at least from a research perspective, to be lifesaving,” she told ABC News. “We’ve been battling this overdose epidemic for now over a decade, and so there’s been tremendous efforts invested by communities, by the federal government, by our state governments, anything from prevention to overdose education.”

Lin said although the data is encouraging, it’s too soon to say the overdose crisis in the U.S. is over and that public health officials should continue their efforts to drive down overdose death rates.

“It’s nice to celebrate all the hard work that people have been putting in; we’re starting to see some rewards from that,” she said. “But it’s not time to like move from the gas pedal, I would say.”

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(NEW YORK) — Kraft Heinz announced on Tuesday that it would be removing artificial food dyes from its products within the next two years.

The company said 10% of its products currently contain FD&C color additives, which are approved for use in food by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including brands such as Crystal Light, Jell-O and Kool Aid.

Pedro Navio, North America president at Kraft Heinz, said in a statement that the company removed artificial colors, preservatives and flavors from its Kraft macaroni and cheese in 2016 and that its Heinz tomato ketchup has never had artificial dyes.

“As a food company with a 150+ year heritage, we are continuously evolving our recipes, products, and portfolio to deliver superiority to consumers and customers,” Navio’s statement read, in part. “The vast majority of our products use natural or no colors, and we’ve been on a journey to reduce our use of FD&C colors across the remainder of our portfolio. … Above all, we are focused on providing nutritious, affordable, and great-tasting food for Americans and this is a privilege we don’t take lightly.”

It comes after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveiled a plan in April to start phasing out eight synthetic food dyes in the American food supply.

At a news conference announcing the plan, FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said health agencies were looking to revoke authorization for two synthetic food colorings and to work with the food industry to eliminate six remaining synthetic dyes used in a variety of food products.

Kennedy said the agencies had reached an “understanding” with major food companies to voluntarily remove artificial food dyes from their products. It’s unclear what action Kennedy could take if the companies don’t comply.

Shortly after Kennedy’s announcement, PepsiCo’s CEO said on an earnings call that the company had already begun phasing out artificial colors. In-N-Out also announced in May it was removing artificial food dyes from menu items.

Other companies, like Kellogg’s, have previously stated their products are safe for consumption, and they are following federal standards set by the FDA.

Last month, the FDA approved two dyes and expanded approval of a third, meaning it can now be used in a wider range of food products.

Some studies have linked dyes to behavioral changes in children as well as to cancer in animals, suggesting this could extend to humans.

Some nutritionists and dietitians say that it’s best to avoid artificial food dyes, while others say more research needs to be done and the potential negative effects are still unclear.

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(WASHINGTON) — Governors in several states have recently announced plans to eliminate some unhealthy foods from their food stamps programs, creating momentum for a key component of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.

The governors of Arkansas, Idaho and Indiana on Tuesday all said they would submit a waiver to the United States Department of Agriculture requesting permission to prevent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients from using the money to buy candy and soft drinks.

The move follows a similar announcement from the governor of West Virginia last month.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, whose department oversees SNAP, has said she would approve such waivers. She appeared at a press conference Tuesday alongside Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, as Sanders announced her submission of a waiver.

The same morning, Kennedy appeared with Indiana Gov. Mike Braun for a similar announcement.

“You’re setting the stage at the federal level,” Braun told Kennedy.

“This isn’t a usual top-down one-size-fits-all public health agenda,” he said. “We’re focused on root causes, transparent information and real results. We’re taking on big issues like diet-related chronic illness.”

Eating too much added sugar can contribute to health problems such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Guidance from the USDA suggests that added sugar should not represent more than 10 percent of the daily caloric intake for children or adults. Based on a 2,000-calorie intake, that would be 200 calories or approximately 12 teaspoons. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children are eating 17 teaspoons of added sugar per day on average as of 2017-2018.

Kennedy and Rollins have promoted changes to SNAP and have publicly encouraged governors to submit waivers.

Kennedy appeared last month with West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey as he announced he would submit a waiver to ban soda from SNAP.

“The message that I want to give to the country today and to all the other governors is, get in line behind Governor Morrisey and apply for a waiver to my agency, and we’re going to give it to you. That’s the way we’re going to win this,” Kennedy said that day.

As it stands, according to the USDA website, SNAP recipients can use the money to buy fruits and vegetables; meat, poultry and fish; dairy products; breads and cereals; “other foods such as snack foods and non-alcoholic beverages”; and seeds and plants.

SNAP money may not be used to purchase alcohol or tobacco, among other things.

Experts say the state efforts to add soda and candy to the prohibited list is likely to be effective in shifting SNAP recipients away from junk food.

“If they have to spend their own money on junk food, they’re not going to buy as much junk food,” Marion Nestle, a professor emerita of public health at New York University, told ABC News.

But Nestle indicated it could be difficult for states to define what should be excluded from SNAP benefits.

“Candy can have nuts, it can have raisins, it can have other kinds of things in it that are real foods and are healthier,” she said.

An Idaho bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Brad Little defined candy as “a preparation of sugar, honey, or other natural or artificial sweeteners combined with chocolate, fruits, nuts, or other ingredients or flavorings in the form of confections, bars, drops, or pieces.”

The bill’s definition of candy does not include “any item that contains more than ten percent flour by weight or requires refrigeration.”

Dariush Mozaffarian, director of the Food Is Medicine Institute at Tufts University, told ABC News, “We need to try a lot of different things” to make Americans healthier, and expressed optimism about the state-level efforts to overhaul SNAP.

“If we make the program meet all its goals, including nutrition, which is in its name, then that strengthens the program,” he said.

Vani Hari — a healthy food activist also known as the Food Babe, the founder of Truvani and a front-facing leader of the MAHA movement — called this “a do-or-die moment” for American health.

“We need to question any legislator that doesn’t sign these bills, there is no legitimate reason to allow high fructose corn syrup water in government funded nutritional dollars. Governors who stand with Secretary Kennedy’s vision of MAHA will change the course of history of American health – it’s a do or die moment and we’ve never had momentum like this before,” Hari told ABC News in a statement.

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