By Esteban L. Hernandez
New Haven Register, Conn.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Connecticut State Police said Friday they will receive 1,200 replacement device tips commonly used to treat drug overdoses following the announcement Thursday that the devices were being voluntary recalled by their manufacturers.
State Trooper Tyler Weerden said in an email that effective immediately, the department will receive 700 devices to swap for the recalled devices and an additional 500 new devices within weeks. The device is an atomization tip that administers medication in spray form into a person’s nostrils. Its frequently used to dispense naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal medication. The devices were recalled out of concern they might not deliver a full dose of medication.
Weerden said Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner Dora B. Schriro is confident state police personnel will continue using the device successfully. The state’s announcement of the recall came Thursday while the company, Teleflex, announced the recall on Oct. 27, Weerden said the device being recalled has been previously been used successfully to help save 33 lives.
“We are confident in the device, but out of an abundance of caution are taking steps to mitigate the risks associated with the recall,” Weerden said. “It is important to note that the products affected by the recall may be less effective, but are not harmful to use.”
As an additional precaution, Weerden said troopers will be sent out in pairs to respond to suspected opioid overdoses in case the atomization tip fails.
“We have conducted shift briefings and implemented additional training to inform personnel of the potential for a defective dispensing mechanism and its indicators (product not being absorbed in nasal passage, medication running out of patient’s nose),” Weerden said in the email.
Connecticut State Police have been model users of naloxone, helping save at least 120 people since they started carrying the medication in October 2014. Weerden said in the email that since October 2014, they’ve received 128 calls for service and medical distress assistance. At least 120 of those calls ended up with victims surviving: 116 were revived after receiving a dose, while 4 had no response but lived.
Naloxone, commonly sold under the brand name Narcan, is available to Connecticut residents at more than 300 pharmacies in the state. The state has made an effort to expand its availability, including limiting civil liability when someone uses it an emergency situation.
More than 400 people have already died of drug overdoses in the state this year, with the medical examiner projecting 2016’s total to surpass 800—breaking 2015’s figure of 729 people who died. The projections indicate more than 500 people who will die of opioid-related overdoses; since 2012, the number of people dying of opioid overdoses has increased every year.
The surge in overdose deaths has left the state’s medical examiner’s office on the brink of losing accreditation, as it doesn’t employ enough pathologists to address the increase.
Copyright 2016 the New Haven Register