Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
N.C., Texas Increase Access To Overdose Antidote Naloxone
North Carolina becomes the third state to provide unlimited access to a prescription drug that鈥檚 already saved more than 2,000 people statewide who were overdosing on heroin, OxyContin or other opium-based drugs. Gov. Pat McCrory signed a law Monday that creates a statewide standing order at all pharmacies to prescribe naloxone to anyone. (6/20)
Naloxone, often known by the brand name Narcan, is available as a nasal spray, a pre-loaded injectable shot or in a vial that can be administered with a syringe. ... Naloxone doesn't "cure" an overdose because opioids remain in the bloodstream for at least four to six hours, but it creates a window during which a person can receive emergency care. ... Beginning Tuesday morning, Texans will be able to obtain naloxone without a prescription at any of 715 Walgreens pharmacies in the state, Walgreens spokesman Phil Caruso confirmed. (Taft, 6/21)
In the last conversation Steve Simcak had with his son, Stephen "Stosh" Simcak texted his father that he wanted to get clean. ... He was one of 183 people to die from heroin and fentanyl in Cuyahoga County in 2015. Officials in Northeast Ohio continue to grapple with the scope of the drugs that are on pace to kill nearly 500 people this year. (Shaffer, 6/20)
