Ducey declares health crisis as opioid deaths rise

The action will seek to develop new guidelines for health-care providers.

With 790 Arizona residents dead of opioid overdoses last year, Gov. Doug Ducey declared an emergency that seeks to bolster the state’s public-health response to the epidemic.

The declaration seeks to expand distribution of the overdose-reversal drug naloxone and give public-health officials access to real-time data on overdoses.

The action also will seek to develop new guidelines for health-care providers on responsible prescribing, and expand access to medication-assisted drug treatment.

The declaration comes after the Arizona Department of Health Services released a report last week showing an average of more than two people died every day last year of prescription opioids or heroin overdoses.

The deaths represented a 74 percent surge since 2012, the report said. State health officials cautioned that last year’s death toll might actually be higher because of a lag in reporting deaths.

Dr. Cara Christ, director of ADHS, said her agency will provide a recommendation within one week on ways to implement enhanced surveillance to better track the opioid epidemic.

The order also seeks to initiate emergency rules “for opioid prescribing and treatment within healthcare institutions ... ”

The state also would provide training for law enforcement on protocols for carrying, handling and administering naloxone during overdoses.

Christ said it is the first time in more than a decade that a governor has sought an emergency order related to a public-health issue.