Independent advisers to the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday unanimously recommended over-the-counter sales of Narcan, a nasal spray that can reverse opioid overdoses.
Narcan, known generically as naloxone, blocks the effects of opiates on the brain and is usually administered by first responders and outreach workers. Many public health experts have argued that it needs to be widely available without a prescription so people who use drugs, their friends, and relatives can have easy access to it. In 2021, there were 107,000 fatal drug overdoses in the United States, including several people who died after illegally buying pills like Xanax and Percocet that were laced with the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
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