CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The Latest on U.S. Health and Human Service Secretary Tom Price’s visit to West Virginia (all times local):
4 p.m.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price came to West Virginia to hear about efforts to fight opioid addiction in a state that has the nation’s highest drug overdose death rate.
Price visited the state Capitol in Charleston on Tuesday along with senior White House aide Kellyanne Conway. They met privately with policymakers and several groups, including representatives of a treatment center and an addiction hotline.
West Virginia had 41.5 drug overdose deaths per 100,000 residents in 2015. State Department of Health and Human Resources Secretary Bill Crouch noted the number of those deaths rose nearly 18 percent last year to 864 people.
To help combat that, West Virginia is establishing a state Office of Drug Control Policy and will spend $24 million from court settlements with opioid distributors to increase inpatient treatment beds.
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2:20 p.m.:
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price is in West Virginia to hear about the state’s efforts to fight the opioid epidemic.
Price visited the state Capitol in Charleston on Tuesday.
He was meeting privately with state and local policymakers and members of several groups, including first responders, treatment center workers and faith-based organizations.
West Virginia has the nation’s highest drug overdose death rate by far, with 41.5 deaths per 100,000 people in 2015, the latest year available.
Price started his national tour on opioid addiction last month in Wilmington, Ohio. He spoke earlier Tuesday in Lansing, Michigan.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is scheduled to speak on the nation’s opioid epidemic on Thursday at the University of Charleston.
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