In case you’re overdosing
Pharmacists in California can now provide opioid overdose antidote
It’s now legal for pharmacists in California to hand over an antidote for opioid overdose without a prescription.
Following last year’s passage of AB 1535 by Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), in April the state Board of Pharmacy approved making naloxone hydrochloride available by request or at the suggestion of a pharmacist, according to a board press release. The drug works by blocking receptors in the brain from the effects of opioids and can restore breathing. It’s delivered by intramuscular injection or nasal spray.
In California, deaths by overdosing on prescription pain medication have increased more than 16 percent over the last decade. In 2012 alone, more than 1,800 people in the state died from opioid overdose; of those deaths, 72 percent involved prescription medication.
A few weeks ago, I attended a seminar that included a presentation on HIV, Hep B&C and current therapy.. Come to find out that the vast majority of HIV + pts also have Hep A&C..
Some of the new meds that treat Hep A&C can successfully treat at 96%+ cure rate.. and a cost upward to 250,000 for a single course of therapy of a few months.
It was stated that Insurance companies and especially Medicaid… parameters to pay for these new Hep meds.. is that the pt has to be “clean” for SIX MONTHS and if they ever become reinfected with HEP… there will be NO FURTHER TREATMENTS PAID FOR… to treat HEP.
So while our society continues to “sing” the hymn that “all lives matters”… and that is why Narcan( naloxone ) is being passed out like candy at Halloween… while some states/pharmacies/pharmacists deny addicts buying clean needles.
While one part of our healthcare system is trying to reduce costs while not impacting pt’s outcomes and quality of life and/or improve pt’s outcomes and quality of life. It would seem that another part of our system, is putting policies in place that could put a huge financial burden from our society’s good intentions and “bleeding heart”
If we decriminalized be a addict and treat these poor souls’ mental health as the medical issue that it really is… how many lives could we save… how many dollars would not need to be spent in treating addicts with HIV and HEP B&C ?
Or do we continue to live with decision that was made in the early 20th century and continue to develop and implement policies that will just help perpetuate/increase the number of addicts/deaths with HIV and HEP B&C.
Is there a hidden agenda within our bureaucracy… that the hymn of “all lives matter” is just lip service ?
Filed under: General Problems
All this effort to allow over-the-counter use of naloxone, which is not really an “antidote” for anything, except that one incident of overdosing. This drug doesn’t even begin to address all the problems that drug addicts face.
And since the majority of overdosing happens while the user is alone, naloxone has very limited power to help. It’s a very small step in the right direction, but it’s not going to make a very big dent in the overall problem.
It’s funny, but I can’t find any information about the long-term effects from one or more doses of naloxone. I guess as long as it brings the patient back from an overdose, doctors don’t care what happens after that. Naloxone works for what it’s supposed to do, but no one keeps track of the after effects of this drug on your brain. Even cancer patients know that the after effects of chemo include mental fog, described as “chemo brain.”