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.
Jessie Blanchard started small nearly five years ago, just trying to get enough of the rescue drug naloxone that reverses opioid overdoses to keep her daughter from dying from an overdose.
“I’ve got story-after-story, story-after-story of people coming up to me,” said Blanchard, a nurse whose organization is called 229 Safer Living Access, a reference to the Albany area code the group's work covers. “They say, ‘Miss Jessie, they had to Narcan me the other day and I’d have died if it wasn’t for you.’”
There's more naloxone than ever thanks to federal and state policies, and groups like Blanchard's that distribute it in their communities. It's available free in old newspaper vending boxes in Michigan, which now hold naloxone kits, and in a vending machine in Philadelphia. One group, NEXT Distro, mails it nationwide for free. But Murray's vision is not close to being realized in most places.
Instead, he said, funding and distribution programs remain spotty because they don't have enough support from government and private groups such as chambers of commerce. “Until they treat it like an epidemic," Breedlove said, “we will continue to have more and more funerals.” But not all pharmacies carry it. And it comes at a cost: For those without insurance coverage, it can be around $50 for two doses.
Maya Doe-Simkins, a co-director of Remedy Alliance/For The People, which helps provide naloxone to groups working to prevent overdose deaths, said programs don't always prioritize getting the antidote to people who use drugs.
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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 livesNaloxone, a drug commonly known by the brand name Narcan, reverses opioid overdoses — making it a key tool in the battle against a nationwide overdose crisis. But it’s still often frustratingly inaccessible in the moments when overdoses happen.
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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.
Weiterlesen »
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.
Weiterlesen »
Public Health Experts Urge Better Access to Opioid Rescue Drug, NaloxoneAccess 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.
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