FDA Weighs Recommendation to Prescribe Naloxone Along With Opioids
CNN has reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering whether to recommend prescribing the opioid overdose antidote naloxone along with opioid prescriptions.
States including California, Arizona, Ohio, Virginia, Washington, Vermont and Rhode Island already have laws and regulations that require doctors to “co-prescribe” or offer naloxone prescriptions when they prescribe opioids to people considered to be at high risk of overdosing. In these states, patients are not required to fill their naloxone prescriptions. Cancer patients and those in nursing homes and hospice generally are exempted from the rules.
A subcommittee of the FDA recently voted in favor of co-prescribing, the article notes. The FDA estimates that more than 48 million additional naloxone doses would be needed if the agency recommended national co-prescribing.
