Woolf SH, et al. - Researchers determined vital statistics and reviewed the history of variances in US life expectancy and growing mortality rates. In addition, they investigated potential contributing factors, forming insights from current literature and an analysis of state-level trends. The US Mortality Database and CDC WONDER were used to extract life expectancy data for 1959-2016 and cause-specific mortality rates for 1999-2017, respectively. The analysis revealed an increase in US life expectancy for the majority of the last 6 decades; however, the rate of increased slowed down over time and life expectancy declined after 2014. An increase in mortality from specific causes (eg, drug overdoses, suicides, organ system diseases) among young and middle-aged adults of all racial groups was a major contributor to this observation; this was observed as early as in the 1990s and with the largest relative increases in the Ohio Valley and New England. The authors’ findings have significant implications for public health and the economy, making it necessary to understand the underlying causes.