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Tag Archives: Narcan
Naloxone’s rising price costing lives
Hospira, the sole manufacturer of opiate overdose reverser naloxone, has jacked up the price of the antidote by 1,110% since 2008, threatening the sustainability of overdose prevention programs nationwide, according to this article. Naloxone distribution programs have handed out more than 53,000 naloxone kits and report over 10,000 overdose reversals since 1996, the article notes — but in the past two years alone, almost 10% of the distribution programs have closed their doors, causing overdose deaths to start to bounce back up.
Possible solutions: the FDA could allow temporary importation of naloxone from foreign manufacturers, the federal government could lower prices by enticing new pharmaceutical companies to enter the market through a fast-track approval process, or the FDA could give the green light to naloxone for over-the-counter use so that people who need it can purchase directly from pharmacies, the article says.
Of course, Hospira could also lower the price of naloxone, which is a $20-million-a-year industry: it would cost a mere $100,000 for Hospira to supply every harm reduction program in the country with enough naloxone to meet current capacity, the article points out.
S.F. pill deaths up, but heroin deaths down due to naloxone
In San Francisco, efforts to educate the public about naloxone — an antidote that reverses the effects of an opiate overdose — has led to a drop in heroin-related deaths, but abusers of prescription medications are still suffering fatal overdoses. In 2003, San Francisco became the first California city to publicly fund the distribution of naloxone, which has saved more than 900 lives over the past decade — and reversed 274 overdoses in 2012 alone, according to this article in the San Francisco Chronicle. But only 13 of last year’s 274 naloxone reversals were for prescription opiate overdoses, and another 37 involved the painkillers in combination with other drugs, the article says.
Fatal overdoses from heroin in San Francisco, which peaked at around 160 a year in the mid-1990s, have dropped to fewer than 10 a year today, and the city’s emergency rooms reported a 49% decrease in heroin-related visits from 2004 to 2010, the article says.
Meanwhile, the use of oxycodone rose by 528% from 2004 to 2010 based on emergency room visits, and non-heroin opiate use jumped 212%, according to the article.
Posted in Informational, Trends
Tagged addiction, Deaths, education, heroin, naloxone, Narcan, narcotics, opiates, overdoses, oxy, oxy-to-heroin, oxycodone, OxyContin, pain medication, painkillers, pills, prescription drug abuse, prescriptions, San Francisco, Schedule II narcotics, Teen deaths
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Naloxone awareness can combat opiate deaths: WRCPC
Although opiate overdoses are skyrocketing in the U.S., many people still don’t know about naloxone, which literally reverses the dangerous effects of taking too much OxyContin or heroin by counteracting the depression of the central nervous system and respiratory system. (This always amazes me, but I myself didn’t know about naloxone until well after my brother’s heroin overdose death in 2009. It took less than 10 minutes for me to get trained in Narcan use by the wonderful folks at the DOPE Project, a nonprofit whose mission is to reduce fatal overdose deaths by providing overdose prevention education and naloxone to drug users and their loved ones — and if you live in the Bay Area, I highly suggest contacting them to get trained.)
In Canada — which is second only to the U.S. in per-capita consumption of prescription opiates — naloxone costs less than $12, but isn’t widely distributed or acknowledged, according to the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council. In a powerful new short film, the WRCPC explains how naloxone can help save lives and highlights the need for expanding overdose prevention.
Distributing the life-saving opioid overdose reverser naloxone can save one life for every 227 naloxone kits distributed, a study found earlier this year.
Posted in Informational, Personal Stories
Tagged addiction, Canada, Deaths, DOPE Project, education, heroin, hydrocodone, methadone, naloxone, Narcan, narcotics, OP, Opana, opiates, opioid, overdose, overdoses, oxy, oxycodone, OxyContin, pain clinics, pain medication, painkillers, Percocet, pharmaceutical, pills, prescription drug abuse, prescriptions, Roxycodone, Schedule II narcotics, Teen deaths, Vicodin, WRCPC, Xanax
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Study touts benefits of opioid overdose reverser
Distributing the life-saving opioid overdose reverser naloxone can save one life for every 227 naloxone kits distributed, a new study has found.
Naloxone distribution to heroin users is likely to reduce overdose deaths and is cost-effective “even under markedly conservative assumptions,” said the authors of the study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. For every 20% of heroin addicts in a population treated with the drug, about 6.5% of overdose deaths could be prevented, resulting in 2,000 lives saved in a population of 200,000 heroin users, the study found.
Anywhere from 1 to 2 million Americans currently misuse heroin or prescription opioid drugs and could be in danger of an overdose. As of 2010, about 188 naloxone distribution programs exist in the U.S., and these groups have trained over 53,000 people and reported more than 10,000 overdose reversals, according to this article.
White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske recently called for increased action to prevent drug overdose deaths, specifically through wider distribution of naloxone.
Although opiate overdoses are on the rise, many people still don’t know about naloxone, which literally reverses the dangerous effects of taking too much OxyContin or heroin by counteracting the depression of the central nervous system and respiratory system.
Posted in Informational, Surveys & Statistics
Tagged addiction, Deaths, FDA, heroin, naloxone, Narcan, narcotics, Opana, opiates, opioid, overdose, overdoses, oxy, oxy-to-heroin, oxycodone, OxyContin, pain medication, painkillers, Percocet, pills, prescription drug abuse, Schedule II narcotics, Teen deaths, Vicodin, Xanax
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FDA considers broadening access to opioid overdose treatment
The Food and Drug Administration held a public hearing Thursday to discuss making the life-saving opioid overdose reverser naloxone available over the counter. Although opiate overdoses are on the rise, many people still don’t know about naloxone, which literally reverses the dangerous effects of taking too much OxyContin or heroin by counteracting the depression of the central nervous system and respiratory system.
The Drug Policy Alliance, a group that seeks to advance policies that reduce the harms of both drug use and drug prohibition, said in a policy brief that naloxone’s status as a prescription drug is one of the key barriers to broader access. And due to its status as a generic medication, producing it does not yield substantial profits, so many pharmaceutical companies are unwilling to manufacture it, the organization noted.
A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that naloxone has successfully saved the lives of more than 10,000 overdose victims since 1996. However, only 15 states and the District of Columbia currently have naloxone distribution programs. This, despite the fact that nearly 40 Americans die per day from overdoses of prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin, according to a recent CDC report.
Posted in Informational, Policy & Regulation
Tagged addiction, Big Pharma, CDC, Deaths, FDA, heroin, naloxone, Narcan, opiates, opioid, overdose, overdoses, oxy, oxycodone, OxyContin, pain medication, painkillers, prescription drug abuse, Teen deaths
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Overdose antidote has saved 10,000 lives: report
Although opiate overdoses are on the rise, many people still don’t know that there is a way to literally reverse the dangerous effects of taking too much OxyContin or heroin. It’s called naloxone, and it can save the life of an overdose victim by counteracting the depression of the central nervous system and respiratory system. Since 1996, naloxone has successfully saved the lives of more than 10,000 overdose victims, according to new data published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, only 15 states and the District of Columbia currently have naloxone distribution programs. This, despite the fact that nearly 40 Americans die per day from overdoses of prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin, according to a recent CDC report.
Learn more about what to do in the event of an opiate overdose here (courtesy of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene), or watch the video below to learn more about Narcan administration. Or contact The DOPE Project.
Posted in Informational, Trends
Tagged addiction, Deaths, heroin, naloxone, Narcan, opiates, opioid, overdose, overdoses, oxy, oxy-to-heroin, oxycodone, OxyContin, painkillers, prescription drug abuse, Teen deaths
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Opiate overdose antidote can save lives, but it’s under-used
Although opiate overdoses are on the rise, many people still don’t know that there is a way to literally reverse the dangerous effects of taking too much OxyContin or heroin. It’s called Narcan (naloxone), and it can save the life of an overdose victim by counteracting the depression of the central nervous system and respiratory system. Here’s a great column from The Rocky Mountain Collegian, the daily student newspaper of Colorado State University, on the benefits of Narcan. In Fort Collins, Colo., where the school is based, three residents have died in the last few weeks due to heroin overdoses, the article says.
As of November 2010, over 10,000 overdose reversals with naloxone by bystanders trained in overdose prevention had been reported in the United States, according to the Harm Reduction Coalition. But as this article points out, many family members and friends of drug users are unaware of the signs of overdose – or don’t know about Narcan at all. And as this study points out, “drug policies that deviate from ‘zero tolerance’ are considered a political liability.”
Nearly 40 Americans die per day from overdoses of prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin, according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Posted in Informational
Tagged addiction, Deaths, education, heroin, hydrocodone, naloxone, Narcan, narcotics, Opana, opiates, opioid, overdose, overdoses, oxy, oxycodone, OxyContin, pain medication, painkillers, Percocet, pharmaceutical, pills, prescription drug abuse, prescriptions, Roxycodone, Schedule II narcotics, Vicodin, Xanax
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