US surgeon general to visit Oklahoma drug treatment facility

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The U.S. surgeon general is visiting a substance abuse and mental health treatment facility in Oklahoma City as part of federal health officials' effort to combat the rising use of prescription painkillers.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services says Surgeon General Vivek Murthy will tour the Catalyst Behavioral Services facility on Monday.

Murthy is expected to hear from health care providers, family members and recovering opioid addicts.

State Health Department statistics show Oklahoma's drug overdose rate increased by nearly 400 percent from 1999 to 2013, and the state currently has the sixth-highest unintentional drug overdose death rate in the U.S.

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The Gayly - 5/16/16 @ 4:08 p.m.