Naloxone Credited With Saving Lives in Recent Spate of Chicago Heroin Overdoses

Naloxone saved dozens of lives in Chicago last week, after more than 80 people overdosed on heroin suspected of being laced with the painkiller fentanyl, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Authorities said the tainted heroin that led to last week’s overdoses was so potent that many victims needed more than one dose of naloxone to be revived.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Chicago is a hub of national heroin distribution, the article notes. Chicago leads the nation among U.S. cities in emergency room visits due to heroin. About one in five people arrested in Cook County, which includes Chicago, test positive for heroin.

Use of naloxone, an opioid overdose antidote, resulted in almost 27,000 drug overdose reversals nationwide between 1996 and 2014, according to a recent government study. Providing naloxone kits to laypersons reduces overdose deaths, is safe, and is cost-effective, the researchers noted.

Chicago police officers do not carry naloxone kits, and it is still not easily available in pharmacies or at many public health centers.

CVS announced last month it will add 12 states to its program to sell the opioid overdose antidote naloxone without a prescription, bringing the total to 14. The program does not include Illinois.

Naloxone is available from pharmacies with a doctor’s prescription in Illinois. A new state law, which follows a model already in place in 14 other states, will let pharmacies dispense it to anyone. State officials must first issue a standing order before dispensing can begin. Garth Reynolds, Executive Director of the Illinois Pharmacists Association, said he hopes that will occur in the next month or two.