Experts urge better opioid rescue drug access to save lives

Jessie Blanchard’s jeep bumper holds a sticker with the slogan “Yes We Narcan” on Monday, Jan. 23, 2023, in Albany, Ga. Naloxone, available as a nasal spray and in an injectable form, is a key tool in the battle against a nationwide overdose crisis linked to the deaths of more than 100,000 people annually in the U.S. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

ALBANY, Ga. (AP) — Access has improved across the U.S. to a rescue drug that reverses opioid overdoses, but advocates say naloxone — commonly known by its brand name Narcan — still isn’t getting to everyone who needs it. A small group of volunteers run an organization that appears to be the largest distributor of naloxone in Albany, Georgia. But many communities lack similar structures. Public health experts are telling U.S. state and local government officials in charge of using funds from opioid settlements to consider getting more naloxone into the hands of people who use drugs and those who are around them. In some places, it goes mostly to first responders.


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