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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday April 07 2018, @02:06AM   Printer-friendly
from the give-it-away dept.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams has urged more Americans to carry the opioid overdose reversal treatment naloxone, known under brand names such as Narcan and Evzio. However, the drug and its delivery systems have become more expensive in recent years:

As opioid-related deaths have continued to climb, naloxone, a drug that can reverse overdoses, has become an important part of the public health response. When people overdosing struggle to breathe, naloxone can restore normal breathing and save their lives. But the drug has to be given quickly.

On Thursday, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams issued an advisory that encouraged more people to routinely carry naloxone. "The call to action is to recognize if you're at risk," he tells Morning Edition's Rachel Martin. "And if you or a loved one are at risk, keep within reach, know how to use naloxone."

[...] The medicine is now available at retail pharmacies in most states without a prescription. Between 2013 and 2015, researchers found a tenfold increase in naloxone sold by retail pharmacies in the U.S. But prices have increased along with demand. Naloxone-filled syringes that used to cost $6 apiece now cost $30 and up. A two-pack of naloxone nasal spray can cost $135 or more. And a two-pack of automatic naloxone injectors runs more than $3,700. And while it's true that naloxone can prevent many opioid-related deaths, it doesn't solve the root cause of the problem.

Also at NYT and CNN.

Related: Kroger Supermarkets to Carry Naloxone Without a Prescription
Chicago Jail Handing Out Naloxone to Inmates Upon Release
Opioid Crisis Official; Insys Therapeutics Billionaire Founder Charged; Walgreens Stocks Narcan


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  • (Score: 2) by sjames on Saturday April 07 2018, @06:33PM

    by sjames (2882) on Saturday April 07 2018, @06:33PM (#663770) Journal

    There are probably some that do. I say that mostly because "never" is an awfully strong statement that corner cases love to disprove.

    But there are many other cases. They may not want help at the time, but that's mostly because they aren't seeing things clearly. For example, they started taking opoids because they were in actual physical pain (often with a prescription and a doctor's recommendation). They continue to take them because when they stop, they feel pain. In some cases that pain is still actual physical pain, in others it's the withdrawal itself. In the former case, the doctor either failed to recognize the ongoing problem, or let the DEA bully him into abandoning the patient. In the latter, the problem is a doctor who thought the solution to addiction was just stop prescribing.

    Others get started due to various forms of psychological pain. They don't want to stop because the conditions that got them started still exist or are perhaps now even worse. They just don't see a lot of sunshine ahead. Others are like the first group who are now avoiding the pain of withdrawal.

    It is interesting that there have been actual studies that showed (in rats) that given an interesting environment where physical needs are easily met, opiates lhave little addictive effect and the rats show little interest in them.

    Given a society that gives everyone things to strive for and the resources needed to actually do the striving, science suggests that opiate addiction wouldn't be much of an issue.

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