Published in 2022 by Skyhorse Publishing in partnership with Children’s Health Defense, this book argues that there was an unprecedented and unexplained surge in excess mortality among young and working-age people starting in 2021. Edward Dowd, a former BlackRock portfolio manager, uses his background in financial pattern recognition to analyze actuarial and insurance data.
: He argues that the increase cannot be fully explained by COVID-19 itself (which he claims was becoming less virulent by 2021), suicides, drug overdoses, or missed cancer screenings. Scientific and Critical Reception
: Experts from the CDC and various medical journals attribute the 2021 excess deaths to the spread of highly contagious variants like Delta and Omicron , which caused significant mortality even in younger groups. Cause Unknown - Ed Dowd
: Studies published in JAMA Network and by the CDC indicate that excess all-cause mortality was actually higher in the least-vaccinated U.S. states compared to the most-vaccinated states during this period.
The book's claims have been widely challenged by public health experts and fact-checkers : Published in 2022 by Skyhorse Publishing in partnership
: The book highlights a trend of sudden deaths among seemingly fit individuals, such as young athletes and healthy teenagers, who historically have the lowest mortality rates.
The following overview summarizes the core arguments and data presented in Cause Unknown: The Epidemic of Sudden Deaths in 2021 & 2022 by Edward Dowd, along with the critiques from the broader scientific and fact-checking communities. Scientific and Critical Reception : Experts from the
: Dowd's primary thesis is that the introduction of mass COVID-19 vaccination campaigns and employment mandates in 2021 is the only major variable that changed to account for this sudden spike.