Opioid Antidote Available Over The Counter In Baltimore (WBAL Radio)

Monday Jun 5th, 2017

Baltimore City residents can now get the medicine used to reverse a opioid overdose over the counter.

City Health Commissioner Leana Wen signed an order Thursday that allows Narcan or Naxolone to be made available without a prescription. Her order is part of the state's new Hope Act that eliminates the need for training before a prescription for Narcan is given out.

Dr. Wen told WBAL News Radio 1090 that 800 lives have been saved in the past two years as a result of someone, other than a paramedic, given another person Naxolone.

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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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