Within the past year, more than 3500 people in Pennsylvania have died as a result of opioid abuse. PA Governor Tom Wolf has outlined more efforts to fight what he says is a public health crisis.

The Governor says opioid epidemic is a top priority in the state. Every day, nearly 10 Pennsylvanians die, due to addition of these painkillers.
He addressed a joint session of the legislature today in Harrisburg, saying a prescription drug monitoring program has been redesigned so that pharmacists can monitor who is getting painkillers, where and how often they are prescribed. Plus, an opioid overdose reversal called Naloxone is  available to people and police departments. Plus, there's also a push to limit the *amount of opioids an adult patient can receive during an emergency room visit.

Wolf says,"The other thing we did is the legislature does, is to say if you were a minor, you can only get seven days and back to the doctor every time if you want that opioid prescription to be refilled. and the reason for that is that we heard too many tragic stories of young folks that have had athletic injuries...robbed of a future."

Wolf visited the Esper Treatment Center in Erie in August. It's one of 45 centers across the state that has received money from the state. $20 million was set aside in the budget to treat close to 11,000 people by those centers.

Other efforts to curb opioid abuse is to help communities properly dispose of unwanted prescriptions thru a drug take-back program. Also, improve medical school and continuing education curriculum on opioids. ##