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Study: Indiana among most “underfunded” states in opioid fight

Prescription pain pills are seen dumped out on a table at Grissom Air Reserve Base, Ind. (U.S. Air Force photo illustration/Tech. Sgt. Mark R. W. Orders-Woempner)

(Inside Indiana Business): A new report says Indiana is receiving less federal funding than it should be in the fight against the opioid epidemic.

The study from the Indianapolis-based Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation says Indiana received nearly $160-million to battle the crisis, but was still underfunded by more than $175-million when comparing the amount of funding each state gets to its percentage of opioid-related overdose deaths.

“There’s been an investment certainly in Indiana and across the country in trying to do a better job of collecting data and have more robust and accurate data systems, but also what it means is that, more recently, we’ve heard some news from the state that preliminary data show that the number of overdose deaths are on the decline, which is great news,” says Foundation President and CEO Claire Fiddian-Green.

“That’s due directly to the all-hands-on-deck effort across many sectors to try to prevent and treat and reduce the harm of those people who suffer from opioid use disorder; think what progress we would’ve made if we had more the double the funding that our analysis shows that Indiana should have received to try to put more resources into preventing people from having an issue such as opioid use disorder and then treating those people who need help.”

Ohio is also listed as one of the most underfunded states. Find the full study here.

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