Narcan TO BE AVAILABLE Over the Counter This Summer

By Bridget Bauer

By this summer, the public will have access to the life-saving drug Narcan, which is used to revive those who overdose.

In late March, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved selling Narcan, the leading version of naloxone, without a prescription. That means the drug will be available over the counter and could help save more lives after a drug overdose.

“I am all for it, and it saves lives,” Teddy Steen, executive director of ASCENT Recovery Residences, said. “It is easy to dispense, and I hope it is reasonably priced.”

Narcan is a nasal spray and is the best-known form of naloxone, which can reverse the effects of overdosing on opioids. Those include street drugs like heroin and fentanyl and prescription drugs like oxycodone. In 2021, more than 107,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, and from July 2021 to June 22, 107,600 Americans died from overdoses.

By making Narcan accessible over the counter, the hope is more Americans can be saved as family and friends of the addicts can purchase Narcan. The majority of overdose deaths are linked to opioids and primarily to fentanyl.

Another positive about buying over-the-counter Narcan is no record exists of the purchase. Even though Narcan is available now with a prescription, some people don’t want to fulfill it because they don’t want their name attached to the purchase, or they don’t want their insurance company to know about the purchase.

“Parents should have access to the drug and need to have it,” Steen said. “I hope everybody can get it, and people doing drugs also need it with them at all times due to the nature of the drugs on the streets.”

While police, first responders and community organizations have had access to Narcan and even distributed it, the drug has not been easily accessible. Now, those in rural areas and places where pharmacies don’t exist can get Narcan. Over-the-counter sales will allow convenience stores, supermarkets and online retailers to sell it. Also, putting naloxone on the shelf means people can buy it with no stigma attached. Emergent BioSolutions, a company based out of Gaithersburg, Maryland, has the approval to distribute Narcan over the counter. Other brands of naloxone and injectable forms are not approved yet but applications are coming before the FDA. Emergent said Narcan should be available over the counter by late summer.

From an AP story published March 29, 2023:

Chuck Ingoglia of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing said in a statement: “The decision represents a decisive, practical and humane approach to help people and flatten the curve of overdose deaths.”