northjersey.com: U.S. Surgeon General to join Menendez, Booker for forum on heroin, opioid addiction

8/8/2016

U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy shows the two types of NARCAN, a nasal spray on the left and an injectable NARCAN on the right during a forum on Heroin and Opioid Addiction Crisis at St. Barnabas Medical Center on Monday.

 
AMY NEWMAN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy shows the two types of NARCAN, a nasal spray on the left and an injectable NARCAN on the right during a forum on Heroin and Opioid Addiction Crisis at St. Barnabas Medical Center on Monday.
 
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The U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy will be in New Jersey today for a forum on tackling the heroin and opioid addiction crisis plaguing New Jersey and the nation. Local doctors, treatment providers, and advocates will participate in the discussion that will also feature a demonstration on administering the overdose drug naloxone.

Joining Murthy will be Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker.

U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy shows the two types of NARCAN, a nasal spray on the left and an injectable NARCAN on the right during a forum on Heroin and Opioid Addiction Crisis at St. Barnabas Medical Center on Monday.
 
AMY NEWMAN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Medical personnel crowd into a forum on the heroin and opioid addiction crisis was held at St. Barnabas Medical Center on Monday in Livingston, NJ.

New Jersey has been reeling under a surge of heroin deaths, which have taken more than 1,200 lives last year alone. There are nearly 30,000 residents who have sought treatment for heroin or opioid abuse in 2015.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 78 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose.

The forum, held at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, will focus on improving the prescribing practices of doctors to reduce the supply of misused opioids while still treating pain safely and effectively.

Opioid pain killers often provide a gateway to heroin abuse.