Life-saving drug for opioid overdose
DEAR DOCTOR: Did the surgeon general really just suggest that the general public carry naloxone in case they encounter someone having an opioid overdose? Where would you even get such a thing? And how is the average person supposed to know who’s overdosing — and on opioids?
DEAR READER: The opioid epidemic is undoubtedly a national crisis. No other group of drugs has led to such a staggering number of overdose deaths in this country.
Opioids suppress the respiratory system by inhibiting the natural impulse for breathing. In short, with an overdose, people simply stop breathing. As for naloxone ( Narcan), it’s an opioid receptor antagonist, meaning that it blocks the action of the opioid.
The drug typically is given intravenously in emergency situations by medical personnel, quickly reversing the respiratory depression. Even if the drug can’t be given by vein, it can be administered by injection into a muscle or under the skin; it can even be placed within the nose via a spray. Although naloxone is a lifesaver, it must be quickly given to prevent death.
Already, naloxone — in injectable or spray form — can be obtained without a prescription in 46 states. (The other four require a doctor’s
order.) Because pharmacies carry the medication, one could simply obtain the medication from a pharmacist, who could then teach how to administer it.
Naloxone would be beneficial for family members and friends of people struggling with addiction. The need is especially great in areas far from the medical personnel generally needed to provide the drug in a timely fashion.
As for when it should be administered, that would be when a friend or family member — whom you know to be taking a prescribed or illegal opioid — becomes non-responsive and stops breathing.
Increasing the availability of naloxone won’t eliminate all deaths from opioid overdoses. We need greater access to resources that can help us both treat and prevent opioid addiction.
Robert Ashley, M.D., is an internist and assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.
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