The FDA is poised to ease access to the overdose antidote Narcan, but experts predict limited impact unless the price comes down.
, which hands out sterile needles and anti-overdose medicines to drug users in Winston-Salem, N.C. “No drug user is going into a pharmacy and paying $47 a kit.”
people each year in the United States. Naloxone blocks the effects of opioids on the brain, and is safe to use even on someone who is not suffering an overdose. Last month, two on the shelves of pharmacies, supermarkets and gas stations — ideally, alongside the aspirin and condoms“It’s not just about accessibility. It also sends a message — we’re trying to remove the stigma around the drug,” said Laura Palombi, a professor of pharmacy and public health at theStefan Kertesz, an addiction scholar in Alabama, where the drug is harder to come by, agreed that making Narcan more visible to more peopleits use.
overcoming a patchwork of state and federal regulations to get it into the hands of those who need it most. Most states now have a system of blanket prescriptions, or “standing orders,” allowing governments, health-care providers and harm-reduction groups to get both liquid and spray naloxone.released this month by the Reagan-Udall Foundation, a nonprofit that advances FDA aims.
“Most drug users prefer the needle,” said Miller, of the Twin City Harm Reduction Collective. “Nasal Narcan kind of feels like you got punched in the face after you’ve come to. I’ve been revived with both.”financing to help it purchase the spray kits, so far to no avail, Dasgupta said.
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