Access has improved across the U.S. to a rescue drug that reverses opioid overdoses, but advocates say naloxone — commonly known by its brand name Narcan — still isn’t getting to everyone who needs it. A small group of volunteers run an organization that appears to be the largest distributor of naloxone in Albany, Georgia. But many communities lack similar structures. Public health experts are telling U.S. state and local government officials in charge of using funds from opioid settlements to consider getting more naloxone into the hands of people who use drugs and those who are around them. In some places, it goes mostly to first responders.
Now she loads her Jeep every week and heads out with a few other volunteers to bring the antidote — commonly known by its brand name Narcan — to hundreds of others in the town of 70,000.Sign up for NBC Chicago newsletters.
Stephen Murray, an overdose survivor and former paramedic who researches overdoses at Boston Medical Center, is so committed to naloxone access that he proclaims it on his personalized license plate: NARCAN. Drug makers, distribution companies and pharmacies have settled lawsuits with state and local governments, and the first funding totaling more than $50 billion is going out. Most of it must be used to address the opioid epidemic, though exactly how will be up to governments receiving the money. Some settlements are being delivered partly in doses of naloxone.
Since 2016, the federal government has allowed and encouraged federal funds to be used to buy naloxone. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering allowing some forms of naloxone to be sold over-the-counter without a prescription, a move that could lower the cost. “If they’re not matched up and directed where they should be, we’re going to see more and more naloxone sitting on the shelves of church basements, expiring,” she said.
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Experts urge better opioid rescue drug access to save livesAccess has improved across the U.S. to a rescue drug that reverses opioid overdoses, but advocates say naloxone — commonly known by its brand name Narcan — still isn't getting to everyone who needs it
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Experts urge better opioid rescue drug access to save livesThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering allowing some forms of naloxone to be sold over-the-counter without a prescription, a move that could lower the cost.
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Experts urge better opioid rescue drug access to save livesAccess has improved across the U.S. to a rescue drug that reverses opioid overdoses, but advocates say naloxone — commonly known by its brand name Narcan — still isn't getting to everyone who needs it.
Consulte Mais informação »
Experts urge better opioid rescue drug access to save livesThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering allowing some forms of naloxone to be sold over-the-counter without a prescription, a move that could lower the cost.
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