A panel of experts at the Food and Drug Administration is recommending that Narcan, a nasal spray used to reverse opioid overdoses, be sold over the counter without a prescription. Public health experts have long said a move like this could be critical to ending opioid overdoses that killed more than 100,000 Americans in the last year.
In New Jersey, the Murphy administration recently announced a program that will make Narcan free and anonymously available at participating pharmacies. (The overdose antidote is generically known as naloxone.) A spokesperson said, if approved, a federal program would add to the initiative in New Jersey, where nearly 150 pharmacies have already agreed to participate.
If the FDA gives the green light, Narcan could be available in vending machines, supermarkets and even big-box stores this summer. Dr. Lewis Nelson, an expert in overdose and addiction management and Chair of Emergency Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, discusses the initiative.
