No antidote for inaction

After the launch of any lofty effort to improve public well-being, some slippage can be expected. But when the stakes are literally life or death, as they are for New Yorkers in the throes of opioid addiction, a failure to follow through to deliver on commitments is simply unforgivable.

Nearly three years ago, Mayor de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray laudably committed to make the overdose antidote naloxone available on demand at pharmacies without a prescription.

They urged family, friends and neighbors of users to equip themselves to save a life.

Which is exactly what naloxone, also branded as Narcan, does. Squirted into a nostril of someone suffering an overdose of heroin, or pain pills, or fentanyl, or other opioid, it reliably revives a drug user who otherwise might stop breathing forever. Government at its best. Except: The city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene never followed up to ensure that participating drugstores on its advertised list of 720 delivered the good.

The New York Times called the listed outlets one by one, and last week revealed the grim results. Just one in three had naloxone in stock and sold it without a prescription. At half, the lifesaver was only available on order (which city health officials say is acceptable) or not at all.

A bottle of broken promises does no good to opioid users dying every day.