Texas Just Made Naloxone Available Over the Counter: Here ’s Why Your State Should Too

Texas Just Made Naloxone Available Over the Counter: Here’s Why Your State Should Too If you don’t live in the Lone Star state, you may have missed some big news about opioid overdose prevention happening now. According to a press release issued by CVS Pharmacy in late July, Naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug, is now available over the counter at all of their locations throughout Texas. In order to implement this unorthodox policy, CVS obtained a special standing order from Texas physicians permitting the sale of Naloxone without a prescription. Surprisingly, CVS isn’t the first pharmacy in Texas to make Naloxone available over the counter to almost anyone who asks. In June of this year, Walgreens was officially the first pharmacy to champion broader availability of this life-saving drug, working with physicians at Baylor University to get a standing prescription that allows them to stockpile the drug and sell it at their discretion. Both pharmacies were cleared to pursue possession and at-will sales of Naloxone following the landmark passage of a bipartisan bill in the Texas Legislature this summer, loosening regulation of a substance that has the potential to put a steep curb in the number of opioid overdose deaths in Texas. The clear safety and efficacy of Naloxone make its wide-spread availability refreshingly noncontroversial. Ahead of many treatment providers’ biggest concerns, Naloxone’s only activity in the brain corresponds to blocking opioid recept...
Source: Cliffside Malibu - Category: Addiction Authors: Tags: Abuse Addiction Recovery Addiction to Pharmaceuticals Addiction Treatment and Program Resources Alcoholism Behavioral Addictions Current Events Drug Rehab Information Drug Treatment Mental Health Source Type: blogs