The state’s budget-writing committee voted to help fight Wisconsin’s opioid epidemic by incorporating Senate Bill 134, co-authored by Sen. André Jacque of De Pere and Rep. Chuck Wichgers of Muskego, into the state’s biennial budget. The legislation requires the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to submit records received through the Wisconsin Ambulance Run Data System (WARDS) relating to the use of naloxone better known as Narcan or another opioid antagonist to the state prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP). In 2017, among 70,237 drug overdose deaths across the U.S., 47,600 (67.8%) involved opioids.
