ATLANTA — A lifesaving drug that reverses drug overdoses will soon be as easy to buy as aspirin.
On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved an over-the-counter version of Narcan, a popular brand of the drug naloxone.
Channel 2′s Tom Regan spoke with a pharmacist at Briarcliff Pharmacy in DeKalb County who told him how this change could help many.
Pharmacist Demeterios Gavalas knows firsthand the power of Narcan when needing to pull someone back from a potentially deadly overdose.
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“I do have a friend and it was once used on him and did kind of saved his life,” he told Channel 2 Action News.
Gavalas said right now, he only sells about a half dozen boxes a month but with the FDA ruling to allow an over-the-counter version, he expected many more people to pick up the drug and keep it in their home or car, in case of an emergency.
“This would be as easy as picking up aspirin?” Regan asked.
“Yes. Aspirin, children’s Tylenol, it would be very simple,” Gavalas said.
Overdose deaths in the United States have risen sharply in recent years. That is being driven by illicit fentanyl, the powerful opioid now mixed into many street drugs.
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“When we talk about four out of five people overdosing, that’s over 100,000 people a year it’s very important to have an antidote for it right in your home,” Dr. Raul Gupta, Director of National Drug Control Policy said.
Realtor Jennifer Hodge of Forsyth County praised the FDA’s action. She lost her son to a drug overdose in 2016.
He took a pill he thought was for anxiety, but it contained fentanyl.
“That’s a wonderful decision, it would have been out there a few years,” said Hodge.
Hodge runs an organization called Realty for Recovery, which among other things, collects Narcan donations and redistributes them for free.
According to Georgia’s Department of Public Health:
In Georgia, you can purchase naloxone from your pharmacy without a prescription from your doctor. Not all pharmacies carry naloxone, so call ahead to find out if your pharmacy stocks naloxone. Local health departments and community-based organizations may be able to assist you in getting naloxone at little to no cost.
The Georgia Pharmacy Association says Naloxone is also available at Georgia pharmacies, does not require a personal prescription, and is covered by most insurances. Fatal opioid overdoses are preventable with naloxone.
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