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Bluelight Crew
Prejudice against people based on the substances they use is one of the few remaining acceptable biases.
By MAIA SZALAVITZ
My column on making Naloxone available over-the-counter to reverse overdoses drew many plaudits and two main strands of criticism. One group argued that addicts aren’t worth saving and we need to cut the drug supply; the other said that Naloxone, also known by its brand name, Narcan, is too risky to be available without a prescription.
Let me address the second argument first. More than 50,000 Naloxone kits have already been distributed to drug users, pain patients and their loved ones in the United States and 10,000 successful overdose reversals have been reported.
The health advocacy group Public Citizen has asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize over-the-counter sales and has received a response that details the agency’s requirements for reclassification. A meeting on the topic of how best to expand access is expected to be held by the agency next May: according to its letter, the F.D.A. would probably want expensive clinical trials before granting over-the-counter status. It is not clear how that would be funded or whether it would allow alternative approaches.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is providing a small grant to develop a sort of Naloxone “epi-pen,” similar to the one used by people with severe allergies. Instead of by injection, however, the device would deliver the Naloxone nasally. Clinical trials of this device might satisfy the F.D.A.’s requirements for over-the-counter authorization.
Meanwhile, peer-reviewed, published research has shown that broad distribution is safe and that fears about Naloxone causing deadly side effects are unwarranted. Both actual street-level experience and studies align to support wider use, but some physicians remain uneasy.
full http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.co...-and-the-myth-of-the-evil-addict/?ref=opinion
By MAIA SZALAVITZ
My column on making Naloxone available over-the-counter to reverse overdoses drew many plaudits and two main strands of criticism. One group argued that addicts aren’t worth saving and we need to cut the drug supply; the other said that Naloxone, also known by its brand name, Narcan, is too risky to be available without a prescription.
Let me address the second argument first. More than 50,000 Naloxone kits have already been distributed to drug users, pain patients and their loved ones in the United States and 10,000 successful overdose reversals have been reported.
The health advocacy group Public Citizen has asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize over-the-counter sales and has received a response that details the agency’s requirements for reclassification. A meeting on the topic of how best to expand access is expected to be held by the agency next May: according to its letter, the F.D.A. would probably want expensive clinical trials before granting over-the-counter status. It is not clear how that would be funded or whether it would allow alternative approaches.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is providing a small grant to develop a sort of Naloxone “epi-pen,” similar to the one used by people with severe allergies. Instead of by injection, however, the device would deliver the Naloxone nasally. Clinical trials of this device might satisfy the F.D.A.’s requirements for over-the-counter authorization.
Meanwhile, peer-reviewed, published research has shown that broad distribution is safe and that fears about Naloxone causing deadly side effects are unwarranted. Both actual street-level experience and studies align to support wider use, but some physicians remain uneasy.
full http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.co...-and-the-myth-of-the-evil-addict/?ref=opinion
