Arkansas needs to reduce the amount of opioid painkillers its doctors prescribe and increase the number of people who receive flu shots, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said in Little Rock on Thursday.
Adams spoke at the state Department of Health and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences while promoting his advisory urging more people to carry naloxone, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
Discussing Arkansas’ public health challenges, he noted that the state has one of the highest opioid prescription rates in the country and that the state’s flu season this year has been its deadliest in several years.
Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.