*** Media Advisory – Press Conference on May 15th ***
May 15, 2018
WHO: Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt, Chief Deputy Mark Krueger, Senior Deputy Attorney General Laura Tucker, and founders of the Bubhugs organization Edward and Cyndi Yenick.
WHAT: The press conference will feature a decisive opioid litigation announcement in our efforts to combat Nevada’s opioid epidemic.
WHERE: The press conference will take place on the first floor foyer of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building at 555 E. Washington Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89101.
WHEN: The press conference will begin on Tuesday, May 15 at 11:30 a.m., and is open to the media.
NOTES: RSVPs are appreciated by May 15, 2018 by 9:30 a.m. Please RSVP to Monica Moazez, Director of Communications via email at MMoazez@ag.nv.gov.
Opioid abuse and misuse results in behavioral and biological health issues that affect individuals, families, communities, municipalities, counties, and the State. Costs to the United States are estimated at more than $740 billion in crime, lost work productivity and health care each year. Nationwide and in Nevada, opioids-prescription and- illicitare the main driver of drug overdose deaths. In 2016, Nevada was ranked as the sixth highest state for the number of milligrams of opioids distributed per adult according to a study by the Drug Enforcement Agency. In 2016, Nevada’s per capita prescription rate for opioids was 87/100 residents. Opioid-related hospitalizations have increased from 2010 to 2016 by 136 percent in emergency room encounters and 84 percent in inpatient admissions. Even with a slight decline in the number of opioid-related deaths from 2010 to 2016, 85 percent of all opioid-related deaths in Nevada were deemed accidents.
###