With the opioid overdose reversal medication Narcan officially becoming available to purchase over the counter across the country this month, the Department of Health and Human Services held a live demonstration Friday to teach people how to use it.
Naloxone – hailed by experts as life-saving and an essential tool amid rising overdose deaths – can reverse the effects of an overdose from drugs such as fentanyl and heroin within minutes. Narcan is one version of naloxone and comes in the form of a nasal spray.
In March, the Food and Drug Administration gave the green light for Narcan to be sold over-the-counter without a prescription for the first time. Last week, the manufacturer that makes the drug, Emergent BioSolutions, announced Narcan was being shipped to grocery stores and pharmacies nationwide to be available for purchase as soon as this week.
Stores such as Rite Aid, Walgreens and CVS already have the product available to buy online.
“It’s important to announce that naloxone will now be made available over-the-counter, but it’s important also to make sure people understand what that means,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said during remarks at Friday’s event at HHS headquarters.
In a bid to facilitate just that, officials walked through the signs someone may exhibit if they are experiencing an overdose, such as loud snoring, blue lips or fingertips and a slow or irregular pulse.
Rosalind Pichardo – founder of volunteer organization Operation Save Our City, who says she has reversed hundreds of overdoses – then walked through a demonstration of how to administer the nasal spray medication, using a dummy she called “Sunshine” in an effort to reduce stigma.
The first step, she explained, is to check a person’s level of consciousness by calling their name and performing a sternal rub. Next, a person should call 911.
The next step, officials said, is to administer the naloxone by tilting the person’s head back and inserting the nasal spray. After that, one should check if there is anything in the mouth of an individual experiencing an overdose and then pinch the person’s nose and perform mouth-to-mouth with two quick breaths and then a strong breath every 5 seconds.
Lastly, the person needs to be rolled on their side with their knee out supporting their body to recover.
The rate of overdose deaths from synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, was 18 times higher in 2020 than in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overdose deaths in the U.S. soared during the pandemic and about 110,000 people died from overdoses in 2022, according to the CDC.
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Dr. Rahul Gupta noted on Friday about one American is dying “every five minutes, around the clock.”
Gupta and Health and Human Services officials participating in Friday’s event called on businesses, schools and offices to have access to the medication.
“If it’s not for you, it’s for someone else,” Dr. Gupta said.
A box of Narcan comes with two doses and currently costs just under $45 to buy over-the-counter. Many have raised concerns about the price of the medication, saying that is too high for many Americans who need access.
In July, the FDA approved a second naloxone nasal spray to be sold over-the-counter. Its manufacturer, Harm Reduction Therapeutics said it believes the product will be available in stores in early 2024 “for costs lower than other opioid antagonist nasal sprays.”
