Availability of Narcan praised

CVS and Kroger pharmacies recently announced their Ohio stores will sell naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug, without requiring prescriptions. Local officials view the increased availability of the antidote as largely positive.

In a recent editorial, Attorney General Mike DeWine noted his office supported the chains' decision to sell naloxone, also known as Narcan.

"Many of our first responders carry naloxone, but having it available on a wider basis could get help to someone who is overdosing even more quickly," DeWine said in a release following CVS' announcing its intent to sell the drug without a prescription.

Mercer County Drug Court Program coordinator Alicia Bruce feels the increased availability will help save lives in the area, which has struggled with a heroin epidemic for several years.

"I think it's very necessary," she said. "Addiction is a brain disease. People are not making logical choices when they're on heroin and most overdoses are not intentional. I think it's a great resource."

Bruce said addicts' relatives most need access to the antidote, especially those interacting with recovering addicts.

"The overdose rate is so much higher for newly sober people," she said. "And those family members are in a position to save a life."

She does not feel having an antidote readily available will encourage or enable overdoses.

"Nobody's going around overdosing, saying 'I can get Narcan for it,' " she said.

At a recent meeting that included recovering-addict panelists, naloxone was discussed, she added.

"One point made by the panelists was, 'if you knew someone who was suicidal, was hospitalized, then turned around and did it again, would you not call the paramedics and get help for them, because they're just going to do it again?' " she said.

Erin Shields Britt, CVS director of corporate communications, said pharmacies are not required to report to law enforcement agencies when a customer purchases naloxone. Although it is used to treat overdoses of illegal substances such as heroin, the drug has other purposes.

"Naloxone is an opioid overdose antidote and so actually it could be that someone like a cancer patient has a prescription for opioids and would want to have it on hand just in case," she said.

The illegality of a heroin overdose comes second to saving a life, St. Marys Police Chief Mark Ernst said. He views the increased availability positively.

"We are simply so overwhelmed by the heroin problem that we are losing a lot of people. ... If we had families close by with a heroin addict, and they had Narcan, and that could save a life, I think it's definitely a good thing," he said. "Although it's against the law, we don't want people to lose their lives. So anything we can do to save those lives is important."

Officers from his department have carried the drug since 2015. Since then, the antidote has saved five lives, though Ernst noted the fire department, which responds to medical calls, also carries the drug. St. Marys Fire Chief Doug Ayers said his department has administered the drug once this year for a possible overdose, adding the department has carried the antidote for years because it cures overdoses from prescription medications as well as illegal drugs.

Ernst said the "miracle drug" will not harm a person who is misdiagnosed with an overdose and has remarkable effects on those who actually have.

"It brings them back from the brink of death," he said.

Pharmacies selling naloxone, which can be administered by syringe or atomizer, are required to follow a physician-approved process when selling the drug, which is available without a prescription - not over the counter.

"It's a slight difference but an important one," Kroger representative Beth Wilkin said.

Because it is not an over-the-counter drug, customers wishing to purchase naloxone must first participate in a counseling session with a pharmacist to discuss issues such as proper administration, signs of opioid overdose and proper storage.

Counseling requirements outlined by the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy include instructions "to summon emergency services as soon as practicable either before or after administering naloxone." This limits the risk of negative side effects, which would be difficult to distinguish from symptoms of the overdose, Wilkin explained.

"Part of the protocol with the purchasing is the folks who administer it agree to call 911 after administering it," she said. "With the overdose aspect of this medicine, you're going to need medical attention anyway."

Auglaize County Sheriff Al Solomon said while his department does not carry the antidote due to cost and liability concerns, he feels naloxone will help save lives.

"Here's what I've said a hundred times. Human life is very important. Saving someone's life is very important. I think it needs to be accessible," he said. "I do have a concern, not whether it will save someone's life, but will people lean on it too heavily? ... It's just like anything else, if you lean on it too much, what if availability goes awry or it's not handled or administered properly - there's a lot of factors involved in that."

Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey, whose deputies carry naloxone and have used it once since 2014, said he feels the drug's availability is "a good thing."

"It's sad that we need it but we need it. Right now we have to find a way to keep these people alive until we can get them help," he said.

He views the antidote as a way to save lives, a law enforcement officer's primary objective.

"Our No. 1 priority needs to be saving their life, and hopefully getting them some help to help them get over their addiction," he said. "But being addicted to a substance, the penalty of that shouldn't the death penalty."