N.C., Texas Increase Access To Overdose Antidote Naloxone
People in both states will now be able to buy the life-saving drug in pharmacies without a doctor's prescription. Also in the news, an Ohio man's last conversation with his father before he overdosed on fentanyl was about how he wanted to get clean.
The Associated Press:
North Carolina Opens Access To Overdose Reversal Drug
North Carolina becomes the third state to provide unlimited access to a prescription drug that’s already saved more than 2,000 people statewide who were overdosing on heroin, OxyContin or other opium-based drugs. Gov. Pat McCrory signed a law Monday that creates a statewide standing order at all pharmacies to prescribe naloxone to anyone. (6/20)
Texas Tribune:
Anti-Overdose Drug Becoming Easily Available In Texas
Naloxone, often known by the brand name Narcan, is available as a nasal spray, a pre-loaded injectable shot or in a vial that can be administered with a syringe. ... Naloxone doesn't "cure" an overdose because opioids remain in the bloodstream for at least four to six hours, but it creates a window during which a person can receive emergency care. ... Beginning Tuesday morning, Texans will be able to obtain naloxone without a prescription at any of 715 Walgreens pharmacies in the state, Walgreens spokesman Phil Caruso confirmed. (Taft, 6/21)
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Heroin's Human Toll: Euclid Man Apologized To Father Two Days Before Overdose
In the last conversation Steve Simcak had with his son, Stephen "Stosh" Simcak texted his father that he wanted to get clean. ... He was one of 183 people to die from heroin and fentanyl in Cuyahoga County in 2015. Officials in Northeast Ohio continue to grapple with the scope of the drugs that are on pace to kill nearly 500 people this year. (Shaffer, 6/20)