US Death Rate at Record Low: CDC Data
The U.S. death rate fell to a record low in 2025, reaching 689.2 deaths per 100,000 people, a 4.6% decline from 2024. Heart disease and cancer remained the leading causes of death, followed by unintentional injuries, stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes.
Death rates were highest among males, older adults, and Black people, with no declines among America…
COVID-19 Vaccine Linked with Lower Risk of Heart Attack
A new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that COVID-19 vaccination was associated with substantially lower risks of several serious cardiovascular outcomes among more than 1 million U.S. veterans.
Researchers reported nearly a 60% reduction in cardiovascular deaths linked to COVID-19, a roughly 40% lower risk of heart attack and heart failure hospitalization, and more than a 30%…
CDC releases 2026 Annual US Cancer Statistics Release
CDC’s latest United States Cancer Statistics release expands access to one of the nation’s most comprehensive cancer datasets, now including complete county-level cancer incidence data for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
The new data reveal that rural communities experienced higher cancer incidence rates than urban areas from 2019–2023, with approximately 467 ve…
Survey Highlights Persistent Uncertainty on STI Vaccines
A nationally representative Annenberg Public Policy Center survey found that while most U.S. adults understand core STI transmission routes, knowledge gaps persist around less common pathways and vaccine availability.
Majorities correctly identified gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, HPV, and genital herpes as sexually transmitted, but far fewer recognized mpox (35%) or Zika (13%) as sexually transmitted infections.
Misconceptions included 20% believing STI transmission can occur via toilet seats and only 33% identifying breastfeeding as a possible HIV transmission route. While 68% recogni…
Fake References in Medical Papers are Skyrocketing
A reference-integrity audit of 2.5 million biomedical papers and 125.6 million references in PubMed Central identified 4,046 fabricated references across 2,810 papers after multi-database verification and filtering.
Fabrication rates rose markedly, from 1 in 2,828 papers in 2023 to 1 in 458 in 2025, a more than 12-fold increase overall. Most affected papers contained one or two fabricated references, and review articles showed higher fabrication rates than other article types.
Notably, 98.4% of affected papers had received no publisher action at the time of the audit, highlighting gaps…