Opioid Epidemic Behind Decline in US Life Expectancy in 2017

Medical workers and police treat a woman who has overdosed on heroin, the second case in a matter of minutes in Warren, Ohio, on July 14, 2017. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The life expectancy for Americans born in 2017 slightly decreased from the year before, prominently reflecting the increase in deaths from opioid overdoses, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Nov. 28.

An average American born in 2017 could expect to live 78.6 years, a 0.1 year less than those born 2016 (pdf).