Study: State sees spike in ER visits for opioid overdose

By: Associated Press//March 7, 2018//

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Federal health officials say emergency-room visits for suspected opioid overdoses increased 109 percent in Wisconsin from July 2016 to September 2017.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports that the state had the highest spike seen in the 16 states that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention observed. Wisconsin had more than 3,400 ER visits for suspected opioid overdoses during the period studied.

The study found the rate of ER visits for suspected opioid overdoses rose 30 percent nationally in that time.

Dr. Anne Schuchat is acting director of the CDC. She says the numbers suggest the need to improve mental-health services, medication-assisted treatment for addiction and distribution of naloxone, which is an overdose-reversing drug.

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams says officials are working to decrease the supply of and the demand for opioids.

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