Narcan Will Now Be Sold Over The Counter. Here's How To Use It.
1 year, 9 months ago

Narcan Will Now Be Sold Over The Counter. Here's How To Use It.

Huff Post  

Hiraman via Getty Images Narcan may soon hit pharmacy shelves, making it more accessible for people to purchase and use. “Making naloxone OTC can help normalize the medication as something everyone person should have available — in the medicine cabinet, in the car, backpack, at work, in parks and other community settings,” Alex Bennett, a research associate professor and director of the Opioid Overdose Prevention Program at New York University’s School of Global Public Health, told HuffPost. Narcan isn’t a cure-all, and people experiencing an overdose will still need emergency medical care after receiving the drug. According to Bennett, Narcan is one of the safest medications available: “If a person does not have opioids in their system, it doesn’t have any effect.” There are some minor side effects — body aches, diarrhea, fever, runny nose — but those pale in comparison to the benefits, Watanabe added. Many areas also have opioid prevention programs that have found innovative ways to distribute Narcan free or at a low cost — also via standing orders — at community centers, vending machines, libraries and hospitals, Bennett said.

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History of this topic

Is America’s opioid epidemic finally burning out?
1 week ago

Is America’s opioid epidemic finally burning out?

Hindustan Times  

Standing in the bitter cold outside the DeCoach Recovery Centre, a drug treatment clinic on the edge of an ocean of car parking in Hamilton, Ohio, Scott Weaver explains where his life went off track. “People will tell you it don’t because they don’t want to take it, ‘cause they ain’t done yet.” Mr Weaver’s story reflects America’s opioid crisis. …

Urgent CDC warning as new drug carfentanil 100 times more deadly than fentanyl kills hundreds in 37 states
2 weeks, 4 days ago

Urgent CDC warning as new drug carfentanil 100 times more deadly than fentanyl kills hundreds in 37 states

Daily Mail  

Health officials are warning about a drug 100 times more potent than fentanyl that has caused deaths in 37 states in recent years. There were 513 overdoses from carfentanil between January 2021 and June 2024, hitting states like Florida and West Virginia the hardest, according to a CDC report published today. The CDC report included data from January 2023 to …

US overdoses have fallen sharply in recent months, a hopeful shift in trends
3 months ago

US overdoses have fallen sharply in recent months, a hopeful shift in trends

CNN  

CNN — Federal data shows that overdose deaths in the United States are the lowest they’ve been in three years, and a new analysis suggests that some downward trends indicate “unprecedented” progress in the fight against the drug epidemic. “I think also it’s important to note that there are still more people dying from overdose than before the pandemic, and …

Synthetic opioid nitazene linked to rise in overdose deaths is emerging in Australia
5 months, 4 weeks ago

Synthetic opioid nitazene linked to rise in overdose deaths is emerging in Australia

ABC  

A synthetic opioid linked to a rise in overdose deaths overseas has emerged on the illicit drug scene, with some experts warning it has the potential to be Australia's version of the fentanyl crisis gripping North America. "These are lab-grown substances that mimic the effects of other opioid drugs such as heroin … but they are far, far stronger than …

Fewer US overdose deaths were reported last year, but experts are still cautious
7 months, 1 week ago

Fewer US overdose deaths were reported last year, but experts are still cautious

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — The number of U.S. fatal overdoses fell last year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data posted Wednesday. CDC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Deb Houry called the dip “heartening news” and praised efforts to reduce the tally, but she noted “there are still families and friends losing their loved ones to drug overdoses at staggering …

Drug overdose deaths in the US decreased in 2023, for the first time in five years
7 months, 1 week ago

Drug overdose deaths in the US decreased in 2023, for the first time in five years

CNN  

CNN — After a steep rise during the Covid-19 pandemic, preliminary data shows that drug overdose deaths in the United States ticked down in 2023 for the first time in five years. “This progress over the last 12 months should make us want to reinvigorate our efforts knowing that our strategies are making a difference,” CDC Chief Medical Officer Dr. …

California will supply first responders, universities with opioid overdose reversal drug for free
7 months, 3 weeks ago

California will supply first responders, universities with opioid overdose reversal drug for free

LA Times  

Gavin Newsom announced that California will soon purchase opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone below the current market rate through the state’s prescription drug label, CalRx. California will provide first responders, universities and other qualifying organizations with a generic version of Narcan, the opioid overdose reversal drug, for free, Gov. CalRx’s Naloxone Access Initiative will buy over-the-counter naloxone for $24 a …

Biden administration announces focus on ‘flooding the zone’ with life-saving overdose reversal medicine
9 months, 1 week ago

Biden administration announces focus on ‘flooding the zone’ with life-saving overdose reversal medicine

CNN  

CNN — The Biden administration launched an initiative Wednesday that it describes as a nationwide call to increase training on and access to life-saving opioid overdose reversal medications, dubbed the Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose. White House Domestic Policy Adviser Neera Tanden said in a briefing Tuesday that the overdose crisis is a “top priority” for the Biden administration, …

Fentanyl epidemic reaches CONGRESS: Capitol Hill staffers given 600 free doses of live-saving medication naloxone to prevent overdoses as drug wave sweeps Washington
10 months, 2 weeks ago

Fentanyl epidemic reaches CONGRESS: Capitol Hill staffers given 600 free doses of live-saving medication naloxone to prevent overdoses as drug wave sweeps Washington

Daily Mail  

Naloxone, an overdose reversal medication, was distributed at the Capitol Capitol Hill staffers were given free samples of the life-saving drug naloxone as the deadly fentanyl epidemic continues to hit Washington, D.C., particularly hard. One staffer, Caty Payette, posted on X that free naloxone kits were being distributed Thursday Voices for Awareness set up a table in a Senate office …

‘It’s absolutely heartbreaking’: Fentanyl is officially Los Angeles County’s deadliest drug
1 year ago

‘It’s absolutely heartbreaking’: Fentanyl is officially Los Angeles County’s deadliest drug

LA Times  

In 2022, fentanyl was linked to more overdose deaths in L.A. County than meth for the first time in recent years. “It’s absolutely heartbreaking,” said Amanda Cowan, executive director of Community Health Project Los Angeles, which provides services to people who use drugs. “In the case of race/ethnicity, Black people account for 8% of the population, and disproportionately accounted for …

What's fentanyl, the opioid at the centre of Biden-Xi talks, which led to 70,000 deaths in US?
1 year, 1 month ago

What's fentanyl, the opioid at the centre of Biden-Xi talks, which led to 70,000 deaths in US?

Firstpost  

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more so than heroin. On the sidelines of the APEC Summit, US leader Biden and China’s Xi Jinping agreed that Beijing would take action to stop the influx of fentanyl, that killed 70,000 people in the US last year On Wednesday, US president Joe …

Massachusetts: Heart-shaped pills laced with fentanyl seized and 3 arrested in drug bust worth $8 million
1 year, 1 month ago

Massachusetts: Heart-shaped pills laced with fentanyl seized and 3 arrested in drug bust worth $8 million

CNN  

CNN — Three men were arrested and authorities seized over 220 pounds of controlled substances in a major drug bust earlier this month that included pink fentanyl-laced pills shaped like hearts, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a news release. Of an estimated 10 million doses seized, 8 million were “doses of fentanyl and methamphetamine …

Narcan, now available without a prescription, can still be hard to get
1 year, 2 months ago

Narcan, now available without a prescription, can still be hard to get

CNN  

KFF Health News — Last month, drugstores and pharmacies nationwide began stocking and selling the country’s first over-the-counter version of naloxone, a medication that can stop a potentially fatal overdose from opioids. Coming off a year with a record number of opioid-related overdose deaths in the United States — nearly 83,000 in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control …

What’s fentanyl, and why have deaths due to drug overdose spiked in the US?
1 year, 2 months ago

What’s fentanyl, and why have deaths due to drug overdose spiked in the US?

Al Jazeera  

In 2021, two-thirds of drug-related overdose deaths in the US were linked to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Although fentanyl is approved for medical use, especially in pain management, more than 150 people in the US die every day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Fentanyl overdose deaths in the US More than 106,000 people died of a drug …

Communities across Appalachia band together for first-ever 13-state Narcan distribution event
1 year, 3 months ago

Communities across Appalachia band together for first-ever 13-state Narcan distribution event

Associated Press  

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An effort to destigmatize the use of overdose reversal drugs that started as a pilot in two West Virginia counties has expanded to all thirteen states in Appalachia this year. “It kind of gives you chills a little bit when you think about it, just because it’s this huge group of people coming together — and you …

Prescription opioid shipments declined sharply even as fatal overdoses increased, new data shows
1 year, 3 months ago

Prescription opioid shipments declined sharply even as fatal overdoses increased, new data shows

Associated Press  

The number of prescription opioid pills shipped in the U.S. in the second half of the 2010s decreased sharply even as a nationwide overdose crisis continued to deepen, according to data released Tuesday. “We are still at an epidemic proportion of pills,” Peter Mougey, a lawyer representing governments that are suing drugmakers, distribution companies and pharmacies, said in an online …

Over-the-counter opioid overdose antidote Narcan is arriving in stores
1 year, 3 months ago

Over-the-counter opioid overdose antidote Narcan is arriving in stores

CNN  

CNN — The first over-the-counter naloxone, a drug used to reverse opioid overdose, is starting to come available in retail stores and online. It’ll save people’s lives.” Advocates for increased access to naloxone cheered the news that the drug will be available without a prescription but said it won’t be a panacea for the overdose crisis, both because it’s too …

Narcan over the counter: Naloxone will now be available at drugstores. Is it enough?
1 year, 8 months ago

Narcan over the counter: Naloxone will now be available at drugstores. Is it enough?

Slate  

A couple of weeks back, when the Food and Drug Administration decided to make a nasal spray that has the power to reverse an overdose available over the counter, Nancy Campbell thought about her own supply of this drug. And I think it comes very late in the process.” On Wednesday’s episode of What Next, I spoke with Campbell about …

FDA approves over-the-counter Narcan. Here’s what it means
1 year, 8 months ago

FDA approves over-the-counter Narcan. Here’s what it means

Associated Press  

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved selling the leading version of naloxone without a prescription, setting the overdose-reversing drug on course to become the first opioid treatment drug to be sold over the counter. Even before the FDA’s action, pharmacies could sell naloxone without a prescription because officials in every state have allowed it. FDA Commissioner Robert …

FDA approves over-the-counter Narcan for opioid overdoses. Here’s what that means
1 year, 8 months ago

FDA approves over-the-counter Narcan for opioid overdoses. Here’s what that means

LA Times  

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved selling naloxone without a prescription, setting the overdose-reversing drug on course to become the first opioid treatment medication to be sold over the counter. Advocates believe it’s important to get naloxone to the people who are most likely to be around over- doses, including people who use drugs and their relatives. …

US approves sale of overdose reversal drug without prescription
1 year, 8 months ago

US approves sale of overdose reversal drug without prescription

Al Jazeera  

The decision comes as a bid to widen access to the life-saving drug as the US struggles with a wave of overdose deaths. The United States has decided to make Narcan, a life-saving medication that can reverse drug overdoses, accessible without a prescription as the country reels from an ongoing opioid addiction crisis. In a statement on Wednesday, the US …

Panel backs moving opioid antidote Narcan over the counter
1 year, 10 months ago

Panel backs moving opioid antidote Narcan over the counter

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The overdose-reversing drug naloxone should be made available over the counter to aid the national response to the opioid crisis, U.S. health advisers said Wednesday. The positive vote, which is not binding, came despite concerns from some panel members about the drug’s instructions and packaging, which caused confusion among some people in a company study. “We believe that …

FDA panel weighs moving opioid antidote over the counter
1 year, 10 months ago

FDA panel weighs moving opioid antidote over the counter

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ …

FDA advisers vote in favor of making opioid overdose antidote available over the counter
1 year, 10 months ago

FDA advisers vote in favor of making opioid overdose antidote available over the counter

CNN  

CNN — If the US Food and Drug Administration gives the go-ahead, a nasal spray version of the opioid overdose antidote Narcan may soon be sold in vending machines, big box stores, grocery stores and gas stations across the country. “I’ve lost patients over the years and have watched as many families have been devastated by this rising, worsening and …

Maine sets another record for overdose deaths, report says
1 year, 10 months ago

Maine sets another record for overdose deaths, report says

Associated Press  

AUGUSTA, Maine — More than 700 people died from drug overdoses last year in Maine, setting the third straight record, officials said. A report by the attorney general’s office Thursday notes there were 716 suspected or confirmed drug overdose deaths in 2022, compared to 636 deaths the year before and 504 deaths in 2020. In her budget proposal, Mills proposed …

With opioid overdoses still on the rise, more regular people are carrying Narcan
1 year, 11 months ago

With opioid overdoses still on the rise, more regular people are carrying Narcan

LA Times  

Monica Clayton was standing in line at a Burger King on Market Street in downtown San Francisco just before 7 a.m. when a frantic man ran into the restaurant. Awed, Clayton — who is 36 and in recovery from meth addiction — approached a first responder and asked, “What is that stuff?” It’s naloxone, also known as Narcan, a lifesaving …

GOP Candidate In New Hampshire Claimed Narcan Keeps People Addicted
2 years, 2 months ago

GOP Candidate In New Hampshire Claimed Narcan Keeps People Addicted

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING Don Bolduc, the Donald Trump-aligned retired Army brigadier general who is the Republican nominee for Senate in New Hampshire, has claimed that administering the lifesaving opioid treatment naloxone to overdose victims “keeps them addicted” and leads to people getting “thrown into the welfare system,” according to audio newly obtained by HuffPost. “It just shows me he has …

America's drug crisis laid bare: CDC maps shows fatal overdoses have risen in all but EIGHT states
2 years, 2 months ago

America's drug crisis laid bare: CDC maps shows fatal overdoses have risen in all but EIGHT states

Daily Mail  

Fatal drug overdoses have risen in all but eight US states in the past year, according to official data that lays bare America's drug crisis. Alaska has seen by far the biggest percentage increase in drug overdose deaths between April 2021 and April 2022, rising by 44 per cent. The total count looks like it is coming down, but the …

Opioid crisis costs US $1.5TRILLION in 2020 as fentanyl use rocketed during the pandemic
2 years, 2 months ago

Opioid crisis costs US $1.5TRILLION in 2020 as fentanyl use rocketed during the pandemic

Daily Mail  

The devastating opioid epidemic in the US has cost the government nearly $1.5trillion in 2020 alone after being exacerbated by the Covid pandemic and rise of fentanyl, new figures show. In Wisconsin, for instance, synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, were identified in 91 per cent of opioid overdose deaths and 73 per cent of all drug overdose deaths over the last …

Fentanyl is the most dangerous drug in America – but panic over it isn’t helping
2 years, 4 months ago

Fentanyl is the most dangerous drug in America – but panic over it isn’t helping

The Independent  

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Lessons from America’s mass popping of opioids
2 years, 5 months ago

Lessons from America’s mass popping of opioids

Live Mint  

The deadliest drug epidemic in US history did not involve peddlers, gangsters or smugglers, but painkillers. Between 2006 and 2014, a single county in West Virginia was supplied with over 127 million prescription opioid pills—142 pills a year for every person—that fed an opioid-addiction crisis that is still playing out. On Monday, a federal judge dismissed charges against America’s three …

Vermont governor vetoes safe injection sites for drug users
2 years, 6 months ago

Vermont governor vetoes safe injection sites for drug users

Associated Press  

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Gov. Phil Scott has vetoed a bill aimed in part at creating one or more safe injection sites, also called overdose prevention sites, in Vermont where people could legally use drugs under supervision as a way to reduce overdoses. Scott, a Republican, wrote in his veto message to lawmakers on Tuesday that “it seems counterintuitive to divert …

New opioids - ten times the strength of fentanyl - create battleground for US medics
3 years ago

New opioids - ten times the strength of fentanyl - create battleground for US medics

The Telegraph  

Nitazenes were created over half a century ago as pain medication but they were never approved for use in the US. According to Alex Krotulski, associate director at the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education in Pennsylvania, nitazenes have become the “most popular subclass of new synthetic opioids,” and are “way more potent than fentanyl, which is really scary.” …

U.S. drug overdose deaths top 100,000 in a year for the first time, officials say
3 years, 1 month ago

U.S. drug overdose deaths top 100,000 in a year for the first time, officials say

LA Times  

Travis Gustavson, right, in a family photo with Carter Lange, from left, Kim Gustavson, Jason Lange and Matthew Gustavson. U.S. drug overdose deaths top 100,000 in a year for the first time, officials say An estimated 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in one year, a never-before-seen milestone that health officials say is tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and a …

DEA warns of sharp increase in fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl and meth
3 years, 2 months ago

DEA warns of sharp increase in fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl and meth

CNN  

CNN — The US Drug Enforcement Administration on Monday issued a public safety alert about a sharp increase of fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl and methamphetamine. In a news release, the agency said DEA lab tests revealed there has also been a dramatic rise in pills containing at least 2 milligrams of the drug, which is considered a lethal …

US overdose deaths hit record 93,000 in pandemic last year
3 years, 5 months ago

US overdose deaths hit record 93,000 in pandemic last year

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — Overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 last year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government reported Wednesday. That estimate far eclipses the high of about 72,000 drug overdose deaths reached the previous year and amounts to a 29% increase. Methamphetamine is contaminated.” Fentanyl was involved in more than 60% of the overdose deaths …

‘Staggering loss’: Overdose deaths spike in US during pandemic
3 years, 5 months ago

‘Staggering loss’: Overdose deaths spike in US during pandemic

Al Jazeera  

The US was already fighting a serious opioid epidemic; the pandemic exacerbated the crisis, new statistics show. Overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States government reported on Wednesday. That estimate far eclipses the high of about 72,000 drug overdose deaths reached the previous year and amounts to a 29 percent increase. …

Surgeon General Warns About Opioid Overdose Epidemic, Urging Americans to Carry Naloxone
6 years, 8 months ago

Surgeon General Warns About Opioid Overdose Epidemic, Urging Americans to Carry Naloxone

CNN  

The US surgeon general has issued an advisory recommending that more Americans carry opioid overdose antidote naloxone. Naloxone can quickly reverse the effects of opioid overdose, slowing or stopping breathing. The drug is used by police officers, first responders, and emergency medical technicians to reverse opioid overdoses. The surgeon general emphasized that 'knowing how to use naloxone and keeping it …

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