Pubdate: Thu, 07 May 2015
Source: Chico News & Review, The (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.newsreview.com/chico/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/559

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.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom