http://safety.nsc.org/prescription-nation-facing-americas-opioid-epidemic

The National Safety Council (NSC) released research that shows just 13 states and Washington, D.C., have programs and actions in place to adequately respond to the opioid crisis going on across the country.

The states who received the highest marks of “improving” from the Council are Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Virginia and West Virginia. Eight states received a “failing” assessment. Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon and Wyoming. They received poor marks for taking only one or two of the six critical actions defined as critical in responding to the crisis.

Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. were all considered “failing” in 2016 when the first digest analyzing how states are handling the crisis was released but have turned their programs around. Kentucky, Tennessee and Vermont had received the highest marks in 2016 but are now “lagging” according to the new Prescription Nation report.

The report bases its evaluations on six actions taken by states. Mandating prescriber education, implementing opioid prescribing guidelines, integrating prescription drug monitoring programs into clinical settings, improving data collection and sharing, treating opioid overdose and increasing availability of opioid use disorder treatment. Each state is assigned a failing, lagging, or improving grade. The report also details what is working in states and why certain actions are making a difference.

“While we see some states improving, we still have too many that need to wake up to this crisis,” said NSC President and CEO Deborah A.P. Hersman. “For the last five years, the Council has released Prescription Nation reports to provide a roadmap for saving lives across the country. We hope states adopt the recommended actions laid out here so we can eliminate preventable opioid deaths and stop an everyday killer.”

Read the press release from the NSC and check out the full Prescription Nation 2018 report.