Gov. Baker: Overdose-Reversal Drug Should be More Available

(AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Charlie Baker wants states to have the flexibility to make the overdose-reversing drug naloxone available over the counter to help stem the nation’s opioid overdose epidemic.

The Republican governor plans to deliver letters to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the acting secretary of Health and Human Services Wednesday requesting the change.

The letters follow Baker’s unveiling of a new bill Tuesday that he says will ramp up the state’s battle against an opioid crisis that has claimed thousands of lives in Massachusetts.

Among other steps the bill would create a commission to recommend standards for the credentialing of recovery coaches.

State health officials announced Monday the number of overdose deaths in the first nine months of the year fell 10 percent compared to the same period in 2016.