Fewest Deaths Recorded In 60 Years

The National Center for Health Statistics, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, reports that in 2004, the last year for which full data is available, almost 50,000 fewer people died that in 2003. This is the largest decline since 1944, when the dropoff was no doubt affected by the winding down of WWII.

These numbers are in spite of the fact that Americans are living longer, a large chunk of the population, the baby boomers, are entering "senior" status, and we are demonstrably fatter than ever. Life expectancy has risen five months over the previous year to 77.9 years.

Another example of the nefarious influence of those damned, criminal bastards in the pharmaceutical industry with their statins, beta blockers and improved chemo-therapies.