The state's top health official says the key to slowing the spread of COVID-19 could be finding ways to reach the people who believe they're the least likely to get infected or suffer ill effects.
Read More »Preventing opioid addiction means more access to pain treatment options
Arizona hospitals and healthcare professionals shifted their focus in recent months to responding to the COVID-19 crisis. But early indications now suggest the pandemic may be helping to fuel our nation’s other public health emergency: opioid abuse. Local authorities and ...
Read More »Opioid deaths, overdoses on the rise despite states efforts to curb crisis 
Two years after Gov. Doug Ducey called a special session to fast-track the Arizona Opioid Epidemic Act, more Arizonans are overdosing and dying from opioid-related overdoses now than any time since the state started recording those figures.
Read More »Tough opioids bill draws skepticism from lawmakers
Legislation to require mandatory 5-year prison terms for anyone who sells even the slightest amount of opioids appears dead, at least in its current form.
Read More »We need sweeping action to curb opioid crisis
I never set out to become an addict. Like so many people, my path of addiction began with a legal prescription for pain medication after I injured my knee. Every year, an estimated 3 million patients are prescribed post-surgical opioids and become dependent. More than 80% of heroin users trace their addiction to a legal prescription, including me.
Read More »Supreme Court refuses Arizona’s bid to restrict opioid-maker’s finances
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to get an early crack at the assets of the family that owns one of the largest opioid manufacturing operations in the country.
Read More »Support legislation to incentivize non-opioids pain therapies
Opioids cost 1,375 Arizonans their lives in 2018 alone. This is a public health epidemic, and we need to leverage every available public-health policy tool to reduce opioid addiction. Fortunately, research into safer pain relievers is paying off and FDA-approved, opioid-free alternatives are now available. This means patients can recover from medical procedures in comfort while taking fewer, if any, opioid doses.
Read More »Brnovich has misgivings about Purdue opioid settlement
Arizona's attorney general is having misgivings about agreeing to Purdue Pharma's proposal to settle litigation over the opioid crisis.
Read More »Attorney General seeks U.S. Supreme Court intervention in opioid maker lawsuits
Attorney General Mark Brnovich is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the family that owns a major opioid manufacturer from "looting'' company assets.
Read More »Industrial commission hears input on proposal to prevent overpriced medication 
The Arizona Industrial Commission met July 1 to hear public comment on proposed changes to this years fee schedule that are intended to prevent doctors from over prescribing opioids and prescribing more expensive medications for profit.
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