Naloxone, 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.
In a 2021 report, public health experts convened by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health listed expanding naloxone access as the first strategy for using settlement funds, noting that 40% of overdose deaths happen when someone else is present and possibly able to administer the life-saving drug.
Since 2016, the federal government has allowed and encouraged federal funds to be used to buy naloxone. “There was no way I would spend $10 for something to save my life when I needed that money to buy drugs,” he said.In Alabama, for instance, a pharmacist, physician or public health nurse must be involved in the distribution. But the state does have a program to mail the antidote to anyone who requests it.
Colin Dwyer, a former social entrepreneur-in-residence at the Stanford School of Business, founded the Overdose Crisis Response Fund to try to boost small distribution efforts across the country, including Blanchard’s in Albany. She’s now a consultant for the Missouri Institute of Mental Health and gets naloxone through the state’s use of a federal grant.Ron Stewart, an emergency preparedness planner for Adair County, which includes Kirksville, said it provides naloxone only to first responders now, but he’s hopeful a state program will soon make it available to the public, too.
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