News To save lives, overdose antidote should be sold over-the-counter, advocates argue

[thegreenhand]

To save lives, overdose antidote should be sold over-the-counter, advocates argue​

Aneri Pattani
NPR
14 Dec 2021

Louise Vincent figures her group, the North Carolina Survivors Union, saves at least 1,690 lives a year.

The harm-reduction and syringe service program in Greensboro, N.C., distributes the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone to people who use drugs. Research suggests this approach is effective, since people who use drugs are most likely to witness an overdose and administer naloxone.

The 1,690 number refers to how many times participants in the Survivors Union reported using the medication between July 2020 and June 2021. But the true number of lives saved could be higher: The program distributed nearly 9,400 doses of naloxone during that time.

Now, as overdose deaths nationwide reach all-time highs, the Biden administration has made increasing access to naloxone a key part of its overdose prevention strategy. It has allotted an unprecedented $30 million in federal funds for harm-reduction groups and announced the creation of a model law that state legislatures can pass to improve access.

But Vincent and her peers say the administration has not addressed their greatest barrier to obtaining the lifesaving medication: naloxone's prescription-only status.

"This designation is the root of all evil," said Nabarun Dasgupta, a scientist at the University of North Carolina's school of public health and co-founder of the Buyers Club, a collective of more than 100 harm-reduction programs in the U.S.

Read the full story here.

 

[jhjhsdi]

It should be available to anyone imo. Testing strips/kits are, syringes are, why isnt OD antidote? Fucking government cunts

 

[thegreenhand]

I sort of understand how early classifications would see naloxone strictly as a useful pharmaceutical, before the advent of harm reduction became a thing.

that said, yes it should be freely available to all. some states like Ohio now allow pharmacists to dispense naloxone without a prescription. see here.

 

[neversickanymore]

quite a few places have been doing this for a long time. It’s a no brainer. Also if I were a pharmacist.. I’d kick it no scrip esp in foolish areas where the legislation causes pointless restrictions that cause increased death and tragedy. Are they actually going to fuck with pharmacists.. Not a chance of winning if they tried. That would be like toting I’m an idiot flag.

 

[thegreenhand]

all the pharmacies near me have signs posted saying that naloxone is available without prescription and that most insurances cover it...

and yeah pharmacists are actually very skilled as a trade organization in advocating for their scope of practice. they have been advocating for collaborative practice agreements for decades.

pharmacists are massively underused healthcare professionals. they understand drugs in a very different (but much needed) way than physicians. i encourage all to ask their pharmacist for harm reduction info, most are happy to help.