Narcan in Da House… and in the pharmacy, certain grocery stores, and perhaps even some strategically-located vending machines. A link to the story:
Narcan — the opioid overdose medication — will finally be available over the counter
The reclassification to OTC was actually approved back in March, but it’s taken this long for the opioid antagonist to ship in quantity to major outlets. That includes Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, etc. Where it should be available for purchase, sooner rather than later.
Yes, some of the corporations who helped fuel the opioid overdose epidemic will now be able to profit from selling us an important part of the solution. Can’t be helped.
Experts tell us that as many as 50% of opioid overdoses occur when the user is in the company of another human being. I can believe that. And not just other users. I heard of one case where a mother went to call her teenage son to dinner, only to find him comatose on his bed. Fortunately, she had two doses of Narcan on hand, because as it turned out, both were needed to revive him.
That’s important: Sometimes, a single dose isn’t enough to complete the job.
The article mentions that an initial price point for a single-dose nasal spray will be $45. That’s just expensive enough to exclude a significant number of Americans. I assume it will still be necessary for government and various nonprofits to distribute it to people who can’t afford it.
The issue of insurance coverage remains unresolved. We’re also told that alternative products to Narcan are in the development pipeline. Perhaps they’ll be cheaper.
There are a few other limitations. Administering naloxone to someone who’s OD’ed sometimes results in a suddenly wide-awake patient, in the grip of withdrawal. It’s not unheard of for a recently-revived victim to take off in search of more drugs. You can imagine how that makes EMT’s feel.
And as mentioned, there’s the need to have more than one dose on hand, just in case the first one isn’t sufficient.
Well, nothing’s perfect.
