Michigan To Get $2.25 Million To Combat Opioid Misuse, Abuse

LANSING (AP) - The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is to receive a $2.25 million grant to help prevent overdose deaths from prescription opioids.

The funding from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will cover three years. It's part of the Prescription Drug Overdose: Data-Driven Prevention Initiative.

State health officials say there was a four-fold increase from 1999 to 2014 in unintentional fatal drug poisonings. Prescription opioids include hydrocodone, codeine and morphine.

Michigan will use the funding to improve data collection and analysis, develop a strategy to combat the problem and work with communities to develop more comprehensive opioid overdose prevention programs.