Child, adolescent mortality hits 15-year high, fueled by pandemic suicides, homicides, and overdoses

A recent study revealed that adolescent deaths have reached a 15-year high with data showing the cause to be from pandemic-related suicides, homicides, and overdoses.

According to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that analyzed CDC data, the mortality rate for children ages 1 to 19 increased by 10.7 percent between 2019 and 2020, with an additional 8.3 percent increase in 2021.

Dr. Steven Woolf, director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University, warned that while "the pandemic did not initiate these trends, it may have poured fuel on the fire." 

"I have not seen this in my career," Dr. Woolf said.