(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – The FDA has approved the opioid antidote Narcan to be sold over-the-counter, and a Cook County Health emergency room physician says that's excellent news.
Narcan is the nasal spray version of naloxone, the drug that reverses the effect of opioids. Within the next several months, it's expected to be available without a prescription and on the shelves of convenience stores, gas stations and also online.
"The approach that many of us have advocated for is really to saturate the community with naloxone, so should someone encounter someone who overdoses, they could be rescued,” says Dr. Steven Aks, the chief of toxicology and an emergency physician at Cook County Health.
"I would say that we've lost hundreds of people in just our area without that naloxone being available,” he said.
"Now, there's a lot of issues attached to that. Like, if someone uses the opioids alone, that's a very dangerous scenario. Ideally, people that are using these drugs need to use with someone else so they can administer naloxone."
It's not clear at this point how much over-the-counter Narcan would cost.
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