1992-2006, mortality rates for women rose in 42.8% of U.S. counties. For men? 3.4% of counties.

Think about this: for the most part, people are living longer -- except, perhaps, African-American men in Mississippi -- but yet, U.S. women aged 15 to 54 are dying at a very high rate. This Washington Post article, where I first came across this information, tends to pin a lot of the trend back on prescription painkillers (which are opioids), noting th…