Pubdate: Sun, 22 Jun 2014
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2014 Albuquerque Journal
Contact:  http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10
Author: Olivier Uyttebrouck
Page: A1
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/naloxone

LIFE-SAVING DRUG MAY SOON BE EASIER TO GET IN NM

Medicaid's Decision to Pay for Naloxone, Used to Revive Overdose 
Victims, Should Widen Its Availability

Medicaid will now pay for a medication that serves as an antidote for 
drug overdoses, a move intended to reduce the high death rate among 
New Mexicans who use prescription pain killers.

The drug naloxone has been used for years by hospitals and paramedics 
to revive overdose victims.

State health officials, in announcing the change last week, want more 
medical providers to write prescriptions for the drug and want to 
encourage more pharmacies to stock it, said Dr. Mike Landen, state 
epidemiologist for the New Mexico Department of Health.

"We're hoping that the availability will increase substantially and 
that more and more people who need naloxone will have access to it," he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that New 
Mexico had the second-highest overdose death rate in the country in 
2012, according to the most recent figures available. That year, drug 
overdoses killed 486 New Mexicans, and more than half those deaths 
involved prescription drugs.

Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, is sprayed into the 
nose of someone overdosing on opioid drugs, such as heroin, and 
common prescription pain killers, such as oxycontin and hydrocodone.

The Department of Health describes naloxone as an antidote for opioid 
overdose that reverses respiratory problems associated with toxic 
exposure to narcotics. Naloxone is not a controlled substance and can 
be prescribed to at-risk patients.

The state Department of Health distributes free naloxone rescue kits 
to heroin addicts through its harm reduction programs, Landen said.

Health officials hope the Medicaid reimbursement will help make 
naloxone more widely available to people who use high doses of 
prescription pain killers, he said.

Increasing the number of pharmacies that stock naloxone is key to 
increasing its availability, officials said.

But the medicine is carried now by only five New Mexico pharmacies.

Retail pharmacy chains are reluctant to stock naloxone rescue kits 
because they fear legal liability for the product, officials said.

Dale Tinker, executive director of the New Mexico Pharmacists 
Association, said lawyers for the chains are reviewing their policies 
for selling naloxone. He said he did not know when, or if, 
pharmaceutical chains will approve sale of the medication.

James Graham, a spokesman for Walgreen Co., issued a statement saying 
that Walgreens plans to make naloxone available at select locations 
in New Mexico. The statement provided no details.

The state's pharmacist association launched a training program in 
March that authorizes pharmacists to prescribe naloxone and to train 
patients and family members on how to administer the drug,

About 90 pharmacists have completed the training since March, he said.

"Our goal is to be able to get this life-saving product to those who 
are at risk for overdose death," Tinker said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom