The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved over-the-counter sales of Narcam, the leading version of the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone. Narcan is the first opioid treatment to get approval for sale without a prescription, and advocates and the Biden administration hope wider distribution will cut the number of Americans dying from fentanyl, heroin, oxycodone, and other opioid overdoses. Almost two-thirds of the 107,000 U.S. overdose deaths recorded in 2021 were from the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
The FDA is likely to approve a second OTC naloxone spray, RiVine, which the nonprofit Harm Reduction Therapeutics sells for about $18 a unit, The Washington Post reports, and generic versions would be even cheaper if approved.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The FDA said, after Emergent studied the issue, that Narcan requires no specialty training to administer. One dose typically revives people overdosing on opioids, though fentanyl overdoses can require several doses. Before administering Narcan, people should call 911 and request an ambulance. Emergent said Narcan should be available on store shelves by late summer.
-
Bluetoothing: the phenomenon driving HIV spike in FijiUnder the Radar ‘Blood-swapping’ between drug users fuelling growing health crisis on Pacific island
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Book reviews: ‘We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution’ and ‘Will There Ever Be Another You’Feature The many attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution and Patricia Lockwood’s struggle with long Covid
-
Can TrumpRx really lower drug prices?Today’s Big Question Pfizer’s deal with Trump sent drugmaker stocks higher
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the rightSpeed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shotSpeed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
The UK’s opioid crisis: why the stats don’t add upThe Explainer A new report has revealed that the UK’s total of opioid-related deaths could be much greater than official figures show
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Why the FDA wants to restrict kratom-related productsIn the Spotlight The compound is currently sold across the United States
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
