Narcan available OTC

[NomadicMedic]

Walgreens announced that Narcan will be available OTC in 35 states and DC soon.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/...pense-drug-antidote-without-prescription.html

Thoughts?

 

[Tigger]

I have no issues. Narcan is not making the addiction problem in this country worse as so many on the facebooks seem to think. It's not going to solve the problem, but a dead addict is not someone we can get into recovery.

Also might make it easier for the cops to get it, which I'm cool with. Our local chief showed up today asking if they could have some for their cars now that they took the "training." While I wouldn't really object to giving them some, I doubt the medical director would be ok with that...

 

[Carlos Danger]

Good deal.

 

[akflightmedic]

No issues with it. Some police departments around me have been carrying it already for well over a year, maybe two.

 

[joshrunkle35]

You could make the case that giving Tylenol to people in 3rd world countries is terrible, because they might only seek medical attention if they have a severe fever, and if they can take medicine to keep their fever down, they might not seek medical attention in time, and it might cause some more people to die. Or, you could see it as a super simple, potentially life-saving drug for people in 3rd world countries that die from a fever (and whatever is associated with that...dehydration, etc.) and that access to that medication saves more lives than it would take...

It's almost the same argument as narcan, yet the world has decided that over the counter access to Tylenol is something that should be a basic human right.

But wait! What if you don't have a professional to administer the narcan properly or in a proper dosage?!?

Well, same with Tylenol. It can cause really serious liver damage, and yet, the benefits outweigh the costs.

I would like to see Narcan be over the counter, handed out like lollipops to potential drug seekers at their doctor's office when they go in for a check up, or they go to the dentist for their messed up teeth, or they get released from jail for a drug charge, or they see a court mandated social worker for a drug issue...

It's a cheap drug. It will do more good than harm.

 

[VinBin]

It's just a matter of risk reduction and cost savings to the taxpayer. It's a lot cheaper to hand out narcan to drug addicts than go through the drama that involves admitting and caring for an overdose. Even if it saves one person from a prolonged hospital stay requiring EMS response, ED stabilization (intubation, pressors, etc), a week or two of ICU/hospital admission it easily pays for itself.

And that it has little to no adverse effects when used in those not on opioids, it's relatively safe even in untrained individuals.

 

[Shishkabob]

It's almost the same argument as narcan, yet the world has decided that over the counter access to Tylenol is something that should be a basic human right.

Symptom relief for a minor fever is not even in the same category as respiratory arrests and then reversal by an agency with a shorter half-life than the thing it's intended to "fix".

 

[Carlos Danger]

Symptom relief for a minor fever is not even in the same category as respiratory arrests and then reversal by an agency with a shorter half-life than the thing it's intended to "fix".

I take it you are unsupportive of OTC naloxone?

Half-lives aren't the issue; duration of action is. It is true that many opioids last longer than narcan, but there's no reason why the narcan can't simply be re-dosed if needed.

 

[AtlasFlyer]

Like others have said, I don't think OTC narcan is going to fix the narcan epidemic going on. However, I don't see OTC narcan as a *bad* thing and I'm totally fine with it. Best case scenarios: parents who think their kids may be doing heroin, turn out to be right and reverse an OD in time to save a young life and maybe, just maybe, the kid gets scared straight enough to go through rehab and grows up to be a functional tax-paying adult. Maybe...