GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Kent County Medical Examiner says he needs more money and staff to keep up with the deaths linked to the national opioid crisis.
Kent County Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Cohle is asking for an additional $470,000. It's the second year in a row his office has requested hundreds of thousands of dollars more to cover the rising costs.
In five years, the number of reported overdose deaths in Kent County has jumped more than 100 percent. In just one year from 2017 to 2016, overdose deaths went up by nearly 70 percent.
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