Baltimore Officials Make Opioid Antidote Easily Available (WJZ)

Monday Jun 5th, 2017

Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen signed a new standing order making an antidote that reverses the effects of opioids available over the counter.

Medicaid patients can get the medication for $1, those who can’t afford it, can get it for free. Dr. Wen said she would eventually like to see Narcan added to first aid kits.

Drug overdoses are becoming what Wen calls a “public health emergency.”

The new law ensures that everyone in Baltimore City has access to a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose.

Powerful synthetic drugs are claiming the lives of thousands of Marylanders every year.

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When I’ve asked experts about these approaches, it’s not that any of them are bad. It’s that they fall short. For instance, Leana Wen, the former health commissioner of Baltimore (and soon-to-be president of Planned Parenthood), said that the Support for Patients and Communities Act “is simply tinkering around the edges.”

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