According to MedPage Today (3/31, DePeau-Wilson), last “week’s FDA approval of the first-ever over-the-counter (OTC) naloxone product (Narcan) for the treatment of opioid overdoses was broadly praised.” Smita Das, MD, PhD, MPH, of Stanford University School of Medicine and chair of the Council on Addiction Psychiatry for the American Psychiatric Association (APA), stated, “We have nearly 200 Americans dying every day as a result of opioid-involved overdose.” Dr. Das added, “Anything that we can do to make overdose reversal possible is a step in the right direction.” Nevertheless, “we need to work collaboratively as psychiatrists, physicians, governments, [and] communities to address the substance use disorders that our nation is facing,” Dr. Das said. The majority of “statements from medical societies…noted that the approval is a critical step in addressing the deaths from opioid overdose.”
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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)