Naloxone Free for High Schools

While the use of highly addictive opioid narcotics is primarily a concern regarding adults, sadly drugs like OxyContin and/or heroin find a way to teenagers as well. The nation’s continued battle with the opioid epidemic has called for drastic measure to be taken, some of which would have been scoffed at just a decade ago. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 44 people lose their life from opioid overdoses everyday in America. Granted, opioid overdoses are relatively rare among adolescents, they do still occur, which requires that we as a nation be prepared for such an eventuality.

If you have been following the news about the epidemic, then there is a good chance you are familiar with the opioid-overdose reversal drug naloxone, sold under the brand name Narcan. The drug has the power to counter the symptoms of an overdose and save lives. Recently, the drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the form of a nasal spray kit, allowing medical lay people to administer the miracle antidote. The nasal spray version of the drug is made by the drug company Adapt Pharma.

As we enter the sixteenth year of the opioid epidemic, it is clear that the more availability and access people have to naloxone - the more lives that will be saved. On Monday, at a Clinton Foundation’s Health Matters Initiative summit, Adapt Pharma announced that they would provide naloxone free to high schools across the country, according to U.S. News & World report.

Unfortunately, states differ from one to the other regarding liability when it come to administering such drugs; this could present obstacles regarding the program's reach. However, the National Association of School Nurses supports having naloxone in schools, and the Department of Health and Human Services is willing to help pay for both the drug and the training required, according to the article.

“It’s a fair point,” says Rain Henderson, CEO of the Clinton Health Matters Initiative. “We are pressed for human resources, but we have to start somewhere.”