Government Healthcare Policy, Business and Technology

Gov. Rick Scott extends opioid emergency, should free up funding

Orlando Sentinel: TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Rick Scott on Monday extended a public health emergency expected to free up millions of dollars in federal funding to fight Florida’s opioid crisis, hours after Republican state Sen. Jack Latvala urged him to do it.

“There have been reports that suggest 14 Floridians have died every day in the first half of this year due to opioids, which is higher than the number of Floridians we have lost per day at the height of the pill mill crisis,” Latvala wrote in a letter to Scott. “If this trend continues, by the time the Legislature passes a budget in March 2018, over 2,700 more Floridians could die. Florida’s citizens cannot wait until then for more financial resources to combat this public health crisis.”

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