Otc Naloxone Research Papers

Part of this team are pharmacy interns who distribute naloxone (Narcan) rescue kits to the patient every saturday morning. The naloxone rescue kits were donated by the Steve Rummler Hope Foundation. The Steve Rummler Hope Foundation partnered with HCMC with a mission to heighten awareness of the dilemma of chronic pain and the disease of addiction and to improve the associated care process.4 The pharmacy intern spends about fifteen minutes educating the patients on signs and symptoms of opioid overdose, how to respond and how to use the naloxone rescue kits. This program has been successful with distribution of a total of 150 kits as of October of 2016. In addition, patients often provide success stories of occasions when they saved the lives of a loved one or a friend using the naloxone rescue

The topic of Narcan is a relatively new concept, since it has only been easily obtainable in the past few years. The major debate on Narcan use is will it become a bigger issue the it fixes. Governor Tom Wolf in April made it public that all state police cars will have doses of the life-saving drug; Narcan (Murrysville). Supports, of this drug look at the fact that is has been credited with saving around one thousand people across the state (Murrysville). Furthermore, that there have been more than two thousand overdoses deaths, in Allegheny County since 2008; and that Narcan would have given those people a better chance to live. Equally important, is the negative-side of Narcan. Tom Wolf in February, made it public knowledge that free doses of Narcan, will be given to schools that want it. Those who believe Narcan will become detrimental to the fight against this epidemic have good reason to. Such as, comments from Dr. Neil Capretto who is the medical director at Gateway Rehabilitation Center; has talked before about his teenaged patients, that would use heroin or other opioids in the middle of school (Pennsylvania). If Narcan, is so accessible like in schools, police cars, and can be bought for personal use, this could allow people to push the limits on using these drugs. Also, by allowing it to used whenever is going to be like adding gasoline to a flame, it will speed the

Narcan may enable addicts, but with it commercially available, the heroin epidemic will be likely to decline. This wonder drug isn’t just for heroin and opioid abuse, though, anyone who takes an opioid drug such as morphine or codeine is at risk of an overdose(The Opioid Crisis). Accidental overdose is just as dangerous as heroin when it comes to these prescription drugs, so having Narcan available could save their life(Padilla). With 47,000 opioid deaths, 61% of those deaths could of have been saved with Narcan in the household (Kounang). In Conclusion, Narcan has the potential to save thousands of lives yearly, but with the cost and the false sense of security, is it worth

Last year there were over 64,000 reported opioid-related deaths in the United States – making it the leading cause of accidental death in people under the age of 50 in this country (Katz). Opioids, also referred to as painkillers, have become a growing problem over the past two decades particularly in rural communities all across the country where the death rates are higher per capita compared to the death rate in cities (“America’s Opioid Epidemic is Worsening”). These narcotics, such as codeine, fentanyl, hydrocodone, morphine and oxycodone are extremely addictive and, as a result, this silent killer has quadrupled the overdose death toll since 1999

Opioid drugs are some of the most widespread pain medications that we have in this country; indeed, the fact is that opioid analgesic prescriptions have increased by over 300% from 1999 to 2010 (Mitch 989). Consequently, the number of deaths from overdose increased from 4000 to 16,600 a year in the same time frame (Mitch 989). This fact becomes even more frightening when you think about today; the annual number of fatal drug overdoses in the Unites States now surpasses that of motor vehicle deaths (Alexander 1865). Even worse, overdose deaths caused by opioids specifically exceed those attributed to both cocaine and heroin combined (Alexander 1865).

Various levels of governments in different communities across North America have initiated programs to deal with the opioid epidemic and its effect. Some of these initiatives will be examined in more details below.

Many people may not realize this but multiple states, including Michigan, are facing an epidemic. It is not a disease, however, it is a heroin epidemic. In a country where addictive opioid pain-killer prescriptions are handed out like candy, it not surprising heroin, also known as smack or thunder, has become a serious problem. The current heroin epidemic Michigan is facing, as are dozens of other states, has spiraled out of control in recent years. In Michigan, some of the areas hit hardest by this drug are in the southern portion of the state, like Wayne, Oakland, and Monroe Counties. The connection between painkillers and heroin may not be clear, but this is because both are classified as opioid drugs, and therefore cause many of the same positive and negative side effects. As a country, we are currently the largest consumer of opioids in the world; almost the entire world supply of hydrocodone (the opioid in Vicodin) and 81% of the world’s oxycodone (in Percocet and OxyContin) is used by the United States (Volkow). Along with consuming most of the world’s most common opioids, we have gone from 76 million of these prescriptions in 1991 to 207 million in 2013 – constantly increasing except for a small decrease starting in 2012 (Volkow). This widespread use has caused numerous consequences from increasing emergency room visits – for both painkillers and heroin – to sky-rocking overdose cases all over the country (Volkow). Michigan, unfortunately, currently has one of the

There is no question that the alarming rate of deaths related to opioid overdose needs to be addressed in this county, but the way to solve the problem seems to remain a trial and error approach at this point. A patient is injured, undergoes surgery, experiences normal wear and tear on a hip, knee or back and has to live with that pain for the rest of their life or take a narcotic pain medication in order to improve their quality of life and at least be able to move. The above patients are what narcotic pain medications were created for, a population of people that use narcotic pain medications for fun is what is creating a problem. Narcotics are addictive to both populations, however taking the narcotic for euphoric reasons is not the intention of the prescription that the physician is writing. The healthcare system needs to find a way to continue to provide patients that experience chronic pain with the narcotics that work for them while attempting to ensure the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) doesn’t have to worry about a flood of pain pills hitting the streets by granting access to the population with a substance abuse problem.

A drug has become very popular on the street and you might have had it before. Over the last year a medical drug called Fentanyl has started being made by drug dealers. Normally Fentanyl is used in hospitals as a powerful painkiller so it may have been used on you before. However, fentanyl like most painkillers is highly addictive and dangerous. In fact, Fentanyl is 50-100 times stronger then the commonly known painkiller Morphine. It’s also 25-50 stronger then the modern street drug heroin. Because it’s so strong only 2-3 milligrams of Fentanyl are enough for someone to suffer a fetal overdose. A little while back; enough Fentanyl was seized in a New York drug bust to kill 32 million people. So now America has declared a national emergency

The United States currently faces an unprecedented epidemic of opioid addiction. This includes painkillers, heroin, and other drugs made from the same base chemical. In the couple of years, approximately one out of twenty Americans reported misuse or abuse of prescriptions painkillers. Heroin abuse and overdoses are on the rise and are the leading cause of injury deaths, surpassing car accidents and gun shots. The current problem differs from the opioid addiction outbreaks of the past in that it is also predominant in the middle and affluent classes. Ultimately, anyone can be fighting a battle with addiction and it is important for family members and loved ones to know the signs. The cause for this epidemic is that the current spike of opioid abuse can be traced to two decades of increased prescription rates for painkillers by well-meaning physicians.

Once more, the lives of Canadians are being claimed by addiction and overdose of a new drug in the streets. For those of you who don’t know what fentanyl is, it’s a powerful opioid, 100 times stronger than morphine, that is often prescribed to help patients manage moderate to severe pain. As a highly addictive substance, many are now dependent on it, and it is one of the most frequent causes of drug overdose. Readily available for purchase online are quantities of pure fentanyl from China, but when improperly diluted in clandestine labs, it can lead to an immediate overdose. Recently, an antidote for opioid overdose called naloxone has become available without prescription, so that anyone can use it. Fentanyl has become a severe problem in the past few years, and while we yet to find a way to eliminate dependence on this drug, we must keep those who use it safe.

Nevertheless, several studies have shown that intranasal Naloxone absorbs in the same amount of time as intravenous Naloxone when the administrator accounts for the time Naloxone takes for an I.V. to be placed. Granted the absorption rate is slower for intranasal admission versus intravenous, the nasal route still has a valuable blood supply allowing Naloxone to be absorbed efficiently (Robison and Wermeling 2131). Intranasal administration is effective enough to reverse drug overdose. Intranasal administration can be repeated every three minutes and last for 180 minutes while intravenous Naloxone

In Florida alone, thousands of Americans die every year due to the struggles of opioid addiction. According to Becker’s Hospital Review 1,399 (Rappleye) Floridians die each year from prescription or heroin overdose. Many families are affected by opioid

As the number of opioid related deaths rises, so does the cost it takes to treat and prevent drug overdoses in multiple counties across the nation. Naloxone is the drug that first responders use to reverse the progress of an overdose and return breathing to a patient. According to an NPR article about the cost for a fire department in Washington, D.C., “The city paid about $6 for a prefilled syringe of naloxone in 2010, says spokesman Vito Maggiolo. This year, that same syringe runs about $30. Maggiolo says the fire department spent about $170,000 on naloxone in the last 10 months.” Not all brands are rising as drastically at the same rate, but the cost associated with acquiring these drugs raises concerns for many state senators. States only authorize a certain percentage of funds to be used for first responder equipment, and constant rise for the price of naloxone would mean counties receive less of the drug to administer victims. Depending

In response to the ever-growing opioid epidemic in the United States, many elected officials, health-centered agencies and addiction support groups have been advocating for friends and family members to arm themselves with naloxone, an opioid antagonist commonly known as Narcan. Narcan (naloxone) can be given by intramuscular (IM) injection - into the muscle of the arm, thigh or buttocks - or with a nasal spray device (into the nose).