Hello fellow bloggers! and more greetings from London. I'm posting this question/comment about naloxone and overdose prevention in the hope that we can get naloxone more widely available in the UK. I recently was in New Mexico to look at the way they offer naloxone to current users. Users are trained up in OD management and then given (prescribed) two syringes with naloxone ready to use. It was amazing to see how this worked, and to hear the report of one user who returned for a refill- he had saved at least one life with what he had been given. Just stunning ...
Here in the UK there are 'medico-legal' reasons not to allow narcan to be distributed more freely and some of the work is about giving relatives the prescription instead. After I left New Mexico I also heard that several n/ex's in NYC are approaching naloxone this same way. Do any of you know about that? What were the problems in getting this set up etc? Are there any published reports of this approach? Thinking the right approach is to get a one day meeting set up to discuss and make a plan of action.
Peter Phillips
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Contact Emalie Huriaux
huriaux@harmreduction.org
She is the California expert on Narcan distribution with the DOPE
http://www.thedopeproject.org/
project. She collaborates here (San Francisco) with the DPH who support Narcan distribution 100%.
She can answer all your questions:)
Cheers,
Shannon
MNRC
TAKE ACTION TO EXPAND OVERDOSE PREVENTION EFFORTS IN CALIFORNIA
Senate bill 767: The Drug overdose treatment liability Act
Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC) is very happy to announce that Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas
(26th District) has agreed to author a lifesaving bill in the California legislature. SB 767 protects doctors, health professionals, patients, and their friends and family members who provide opiate antagonists, including naloxone, to those who need it. Naloxone (also known as Narcan(R)) is a medication used in opiate overdose (for example, heroin and morphine overdose) that allows someone overdosing to breathe normally again. Clinicians are concerned about civil or criminal liability if a patient uses his or her naloxone on someone else. Because of this concern there aren't enough clinicians willing to prescribe naloxone for all the agencies that want to incorporate overdose programs into their services, but there will be once SB 767 passes.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Urge your State Senate and Assembly members to co-sponsor this bill and ask them to vote YES for SB 767 to support counties' efforts to promote effective overdose prevention and reduce fatal overdoses in California (see "Tell Your Legislators" section below).
To find contact information for the Assembly and Senate, visit http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset7text.htm and http://www.senate.ca.gov/#senator.
Go to constituent meetings.
If you would like to be contacted regarding constituent meetings, contact Emalie Huriaux at HRC via phone at 510.444.6969 x 16 or email at huriaux@harmreduction.org.
Forward this Action Alert along to 5 friends and/or colleagues.
Sign up to receive email alerts regarding this bill and other Action Alerts at http://harmreduction.org/emailSignup.html.
TELL YOUR LEGISLATORS
· Drug overdose is the second leading cause of accidental death in the United States and the leading cause of death in California's opioid using population.
· I support SB 767, the Drug Overdose Treatment Liability Act, because it protects medical providers who prescribe naloxone to their patients, encourages more providers to prescribe naloxone, and protects patients who may use this lifesaving medication on someone else experiencing an overdose.
· Naloxone is a legal, nonscheduled, prescription medication used to counter the effects of opioid overdose, for example morphine and heroin overdose. It counteracts life-threatening depression of the central nervous and respiratory systems, allowing an overdose victim to breathe normally. Naloxone only works if a person has opioids in their system; the medication has no effect if opioids are absent.
· New York, New Mexico, and Connecticut have all enacted legislation to address the issue of health care provider and third party liability as it applies to opiate antagonists, like naloxone. California must follow their lead to reduce deaths from overdose in our state.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION & MORE ON NALOXONE
Naloxone (also known as Narcan(R)) is a medication used to counter the effects of opioid overdose, for example morphine and heroin overdose. Specifically, naloxone counteracts life-threatening depression of the central nervous and respiratory systems, allowing an overdose victim to breathe normally. Naloxone is a nonscheduled (i.e., non-addictive) prescription medication with the same level of regulation as prescription ibuprofen. It only works if a person has opioids in their system; the medication has no effect if opioids are absent. Although traditionally administered by emergency response personnel, naloxone can be administered by minimally trained laypeople, which makes it ideal for treating overdose in people who have been prescribed opioid pain medication and in people who use heroin and other illicit opioids.
In most jurisdictions naloxone is only available to people experiencing overdose when emergency medical services are summoned. However, recognizing that many fatal opioid overdoses are preventable, a number of jurisdictions in California and throughout the United States are providing overdose prevention, recognition, and response training, including training in calling 911, rescue breathing and take-home prescriptions of naloxone, to drug users and their loved ones.
Studies indicate that many victims of opioid overdoses never receive proper medical attention because their peers and other witnesses (who are often drug users themselves) do not call 911, for fear of police involvement (Pollini et al, 2005; Tobin et al, 2005; Davidson et al, 2003; Seal et al, 2003; Strang et al, 2000). While not all opioid overdoses are fatal, the provision of naloxone to those who would otherwise not receive it could save hundreds of lives each year. Additionally, timely provision of naloxone may help reduce some of the morbidities associated with non-fatal overdose. Witnesses who are able to provide rescue breathing and naloxone to an overdose victim experiencing respiratory depression will likely prevent brain damage in the victim (brain damage begins within 3-5 minutes after someone stops breathing).
This Action Alert is brought to you by the Harm Reduction Coalition, a national advocacy and capacity-building organization that promotes the health and dignity of individuals and communities impacted by drug use and the "war on drugs." HRC advances policies and programs that help people address the adverse effects of drug use including overdose, HIV, hepatitis C, addiction, and incarceration. We recognize that the structures of social inequality impact the lives and options of affected communities differently, and work to uphold every individual's right to health and well-being by supporting their competence to care for themselves, their loved ones, and their communities. For more information on the Harm Reduction Coalition, visit www.harmreduction.org.
Post a Comment