According to provisional state data collected by CDC, U.S. overdose deaths declined by almost 30% in 2024, the lowest level recorded since 2019, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Georgia, Massachusetts, and Texas.
- Georgia: According to provisional state data collected by CDC, an estimated 80,391 people died from drug overdoses in 2024, a decrease of almost 27% compared to the year before. It is the lowest number of overdose deaths recorded since 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic, overdose deaths surged, reaching over 100,000 per year starting in 2021. "I would characterize this as a historically significant decrease in overdose deaths," said Brandon Marshall, an epidemiologist at the Brown University School of Public Health. "We're really seeing decreases almost across the entire nation at this point." Currently, it's not clear whether the significant decrease in overdose deaths will continue or return to pre-pandemic overdose levels. Before the pandemic, U.S. overdose deaths had largely plateaued at around 70,000 a year. Some public health experts have also expressed concerns that the Trump administration's efforts to cut federal funding, including to CDC and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, could "undermine the hard-fought progress we have made, especially in overdose prevention." (Ovalle, Washington Post, 5/14; Facher, STAT, 5/14)
- Massachusetts: Moderna is extending its cost-savings program into 2027 and targeting a cash breakeven point sometime in 2028. The company aims to reduce its GAAP operating costs by $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion between 2025 and 2027. According to Moderna CFO Jamey Mock, the majority of the cost reductions will come from research and development, which make up almost two-thirds of the company's expense base. "It's an uncertain environment," Mock said. "But we need to focus on what we can control, and that is our cost base." Currently, the U.S. vaccines market faces new uncertainties under the Trump administration, particularly since HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a known vaccine skeptic. Recently, HHS said that FDA would require all new vaccines to undergo safety testing in placebo-controlled trials before being licensed — a move that could potentially delay updates to seasonal vaccines like COVID-19 and the flu. (Liu, Fierce Pharma, 5/1)
- Texas: Earlier this month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced investigations into toothpaste companies, arguing that they had misused fluoride in their products. According to Paxton, toothpaste manufacturers like Colgate and Procter & Gamble are using flavoring and marketing to "encourage kids to ingest fluoride toothpaste and mislead their parents." In a statement, Paxton said he would "use every tool available to protect our kids from dangerous levels of fluoride exposure and deceptive advertising." In recent years, there has been growing pushback against fluoride, particularly in drinking water. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has spoken out against fluoridation and recently convened a taskforce to develop new CDC guidance on the issue. Earlier this year, Utah became the first state to ban fluoride in drinking water, and Florida recently followed suit. (Elbein, The Hill, 5/1)
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