Sanjay Gupta, MD on naloxone, OD rescue tx (CNN)

[pinto]

Can an addict be brought back to life with Naloxone? CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look.

http://sanjayguptamd.blogs.cnn.com/

[Warpy]

1. Whaaaaaa?

They've been reversing ODs with naloxone for decades. Gupta should know this stuff. They bring in somebody with shallow to nonexistant breathing, unconscious and with pinpoint pupils, naloxone is the first thing they use. Generally the patient wakes right up having withdrawal symptoms and is not happy about it.

"Bringing them back to life" is a misnomer. They aint dead yet but will be without treatment.

[pinto]

2. The big change are laws allowing non-medical administration of naloxone.

Syringe exchanges are distributing naloxone to exchangers directly for on-site use in the event of an OD.
i.e. administer immediately, call 911.



(on edit) I agree with the poor choice of wording in the lead-in header.

[Warpy]

3. That makes a great deal of sense

I remember the bad old days in the 60s when somebody would OD and the flatmates would toss the body off the roof so the cops would think it was a suicide instead of suspecting drugs. It never worked.

Reversing the drug with Naloxone right then and there is a better idea. Moralists are likely to shriek over it since they seem to want all drug users dead.

[riverwalker]

4. Narcan, Clinton and the Israeli incident

Whenever I hear of Narcan I think of the International incident in the 90's. A guy was almost killed with a Fentanyl dart, Clinton demanded to know the poison and the antidote.
It reads like a spy novel, but it's all true.

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/15/world/the-daring-attack-that-blew-up-in-israel-s-face.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm



The Daring Attack That Blew Up in Israel's Face

By ALAN COWELL
Published: October 15, 1997

Over many years, it has been an open secret in the Middle East that Israel and Jordan have quietly cooperated on a host of covert projects. And so, diplomats here say, King Hussein was not surprised on Sept. 25 when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called to ask that he immediately meet Israel's chief spymaster.

Danni Yatom, the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, was a frequent, if unheralded, visitor to Amman, according to the diplomats. The King assumed he would be discussing a new peace overture relating to Hamas, the radical Palestinian Islamic group, which had taken responsibility for two devastating suicide-bombings in Jerusalem over the summer.

Mr. Yatom had considerably grimmer news to convey, according to an account of his meeting provided by Israeli and Jordanian officials. Only three or four hours earlier, he told the King, an Israeli operation to assassinate Khaled Meshal, a Hamas political figure, had gone awry on the streets of Amman. Two Israeli agents posing as Canadian visitors were in a Jordanian jail and Mr. Yatom wanted the King's cooperation in getting them freed.
<more at link>

[pinto]

5. How does any of this relate to current social OD prevention / intervention?