U.S. infant mortality rate rises for first time in 20 years; "definitely concerning," one researcher says
CBSN
The U.S. infant mortality rate rose 3% last year - the largest increase in two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
White and Native American infants, infant boys and babies born at 37 weeks or earlier had significant death rate increases. The CDC's report, published Wednesday, also noted larger increases for two of the leading causes of infant deaths - maternal complications and bacterial meningitis.
"It's definitely concerning, given that it's going in the opposite direction from what it has been," said Marie Thoma, a University of Maryland researcher who studies maternal and infant mortality.
Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday said it will consider the constitutionality of the Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund, agreeing to review a lower court decision that upended the mechanism for funding programs that provide communications services to rural areas, low-income communities and schools, libraries and hospitals.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched six space tourists on a high-speed dash to the edge of space and back Friday, giving the passengers — including a husband and wife making their second flight — about three minutes of weightlessness and an out-of-this world view before the capsule made a parachute descent to touchdown at the company's west Texas flight facility.