FDA advisors recommend over-the-counter use of life-saving opioid overdose treatment Narcan
Source: CNBC
The Food and Drug Administration’s independent advisors on Wednesday unanimously recommended over-the-counter use of the nasal spray Narcan to reverse opioid overdoses, which would significantly expand access to the life-saving treatment.
Emergent BioSolutions’ Narcan is the most commonly sold treatment for opioid overdoses. The FDA is expected to make a decision by March 29 on whether to allow people to buy the four milligram nasal spray without a prescription. The agency is not required to accept its advisors recommendation, though it typically does so.
“There is no reason to keep this as a prescription, let’s get it out there and save some lives,” said Elizabeth Coykendall, a paramedic at PM Pediatrics in Raleigh, North Carolina and a temporary voting member of the FDA committee. Emergent BioSolutions said Narcan would be available for the over-the-counter market by late summer if the FDA approves it next month. The company has not yet disclosed how much it would cost.
“We have been working on distribution plans with key stakeholders like retailers and government leaders,” said Matt Hartwig, a spokesperson for the company. Most states have already issued blanket prescriptions that allow pharmacies to distribute Narcan, generically known as naloxone, without the patient having to present a script. But FDA approval of Narcan for over-the-counter use would allow more people to acquire the treatment more easily in more places.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/15/opioid-overdose-treatment-narcan-recommended-by-fda-advisors-for-over-the-counter-use-.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans have expressed support for legalizing fentanyl test strips, which help users identify whether the drugs they are planning on taking contain the deadly synthetic opioid.
by James Barragán Dec. 23, 2022 5 AM Central
(snip)
Bills to legalize fentanyl test strips, and other similar programs like syringe exchange services that aim to minimize harm for those addicted to drugs, have been filed in the past, but were mostly authored by Democrats and had little chance of becoming law in a Republican-dominated Legislature. Many tough-on-crime Republicans have opposed such measures, concerned that they enable drug use.
Now, some of the Capitol’s most conservative names — like state Sen. Bob Hall of Edgewood and Rep. Tom Oliverson of Cypress— are taking up the case for legalizing fentanyl test strips. And the issue is getting help from top legislative leaders.
“I believe that recommendations made by the public health committee will receive broad support in our chamber, such as legalizing fentanyl testing strips, encouraging the availability of naloxone and promoting a more centralized and coordinated data collection effort to better inform law enforcement and emergency medical services,” House Speaker Dade Phelan said in a statement.
Abbott also said he wanted to make Narcan, a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses that is generically called naloxone, more readily available across the state. First responders and harm-reduction groups that work with people who use drugs have difficulty supplying Narcan because of its cost — about $125 for a kit with two doses.
(snip)
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/12/23/texas-legislature-opioid-fentanyl/
you now know that it is a sign that this has started to happen -
Because under Obama, Democrats promoted all kinds of stuff that Raygun recommended and that caused them to not only throw Raygun under the bus, but they backed up and ran over him multiple times! 
That is why they are completely devoid of any true policy positions. On the surface it looks like they have some kind of magical power but the reality is they look like a bunch of rudderless idiots. As I heard on the radio earlier today, the GOP has lost the popular vote in the last 7 Presidential elections (and apparently they only excel at gaming the Electoral College).
