By EMS1 Staff
WASHINGTON — The United States Surgeon General urged the public to carry naloxone and learn how to use it.
NY Times reported that Dr. Jerome Adams issued the first national advisory since 2005 and said more Americans should be equipped with naloxone to prevent more opioid deaths.
“Each day we lose 115 Americans to an opioid overdose — that’s one person every 12.5 minutes,” Dr. Adams said in a statement. “It is time to make sure more people have access to this lifesaving medication, because 77 percent of opioid overdose deaths occur outside of a medical setting and more than half occur at home.”
Baltimore health commissioner Dr. Leana Wen called upon the Trump administration to work with naloxone manufacturers to steeply decrease the cost of the lifesaving drug, as many communities are struggling with the increasing price. She said Baltimore currently has to ration naloxone because they can’t afford to have a stockpile.
“Every week, we count the doses we have left and make hard decisions about who will receive the medication and who will have to go without,” she said in a statement. “The federal government needs to follow their policy guidance with specific actions to actually ensure access. We should not be priced out of the ability to save lives.”
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