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BOSTON (WBZNewsRadio) — On Wednesday, the Federal Drug Administration gave the green light to make one life-saving drug more accessible to the public.
Narcan, a nasal spray that can help reverse opioid overdoses, can now be sold over the counter. Public health officials pushed for greater access to the spray as it will help to reduce the high number of opioid overdose deaths across the nation.
In the first nine months of last year, the opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts decreased when compared to the first nine months of the year prior. In 2021, the opioid-related overdose death rate was 33.1 per 100,000 people in Massachusetts, which was 11 percent higher than in 2020, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
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"Naloxone is an important and effective tool in reversing opioid overdose and preventing needless deaths, and we applaud the FDA’s decision to make the nasal spray version available over-the-counter without a prescription," RIZE Massachusetts, a nonprofit working to end the opioid overdose crisis, said in a statement. "We hope that the agency will work with manufacturers to ensure it is also affordable to those who need it most. Massachusetts lost 2,301 people to overdose in 2021, and saw only a slight decline in 2022. No one has to die from overdose. Greater access to harm reduction practices and tools like naloxone is key to saving lives."
The spray version of naloxone blocks opioid effects on the brain and restores breathing in those experiencing an overdose.
Connecticut and Maine have some of the highest opioid death rates in New England, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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