Tag Archives: naloxone

Opioid Treatment Making A Difference

There is a great article in the Bismarck Tribune about the expansion of methadone services in Fargo, North Dakota. Fargo, like most other areas of the country, was impacted in recent years by numerous opioid-related overdose deaths.

The article reports that Cass County had 31 overdose deaths in 2016, but that number was reduced to 15 in 2017, due in part to the increased availability of naloxone (the medication that reverses opioid overdose).

While local ambulance calls have decreased in relation to opioid overdoses, the problem of opioid addiction remains a widespread and primary concern in the community.

The Tribune story reveals that more local residents are now enrolled in opioid treatment and are receiving the life-saving medication, methadone. Treatment that combines medication-assistance and counseling is the industry standard in quality care for those addicted to opioids.

The new Fargo-based clinic is reported to have 164 active patients currently enrolled in the methadone program. The clinic director, Mark Schaefer, is quoted as saying that while enrollment has been rapid, there remain many people in the local area with untreated opioid addiction.

The availability of treatment is making a difference. And medications like methadone, buprenorphine, and naloxone are providing a much needed solution to America’s opioid crisis.

Evzio For Reversal of Opioid Overdose

evzio-naloxoneEvzio is an FDA-approved emergency treatment that counteracts the effects of opioid overdose. It is an “auto-injector” designed to contain a retractable needle and a 0.4 mg dose of naloxone. Naloxone is a powerful opioid antagonist that reverses the effects of overdose with heroin or other opiates. Naloxone has been used throughout the country in the past few years and literally saved hundreds of lives.

evzio-imageKaleo Pharma is the manufacturer of Evzio. The company specializes in innovative solutions for serious and life threatening medical conditions. Kaleo Pharma is based out of Richmond, Virginia, USA.

As has been documented in national media, very potent forms of heroin have become available much of it laced with other opiate derivatives like fentanyl. These combinations have proven lethal in a large number of cases often with younger people being the victims of overdose due to not understanding the extreme potency of the drugs being sold.

Products like Evzio in the hands of family and local emergency response teams can yield life saving interventions within minutes.

When addicted people survive a near fatal overdose, this often acts as a necessary catalyst to enter treatment and to step onto the path of personal recovery. Overdose survivors sometimes reflect on what has happened to them and may realize the pain that their death would have caused their children, friends, and family. The vast majority of overdoses are accidental and are nearly always preventable.

It is important to remember that addiction is an illness and that addicted people can recover, and can go on to live much improved lives when they are ready to change. Evzio will most likely save many people and give them that opportunity to live a life of real recovery.

For more about naloxone

Naloxone Reverses Opioid Overdose and Saves Lives

naloxone-kitMore communities across the U.S. are facing the devastation of opioid overdose. The impact on families is profound as they often struggle with questions of “Could we have done more?” and ponder what else must be done to address this growing national epidemic.

Highlighted in the news this week was the heroin overdose death of a Louisville cheerleader and the suspected opioid overdose death of a 27 year old man in North Carolina found slumped behind the wheel of his pick-up truck with an empty bottle of painkillers and a spoon beside him.

Naloxone is an FDA-approved medication that reverses the effects of opioid overdose. It is an opioid antagonist and consequently knocks opiates off of the body’s opioid receptor sites thus reversing central nervous system and respiratory depression which are the most dangerous consequences of opioid overdose. In many cases, naloxone quickly restores breathing and allows overdose victims to regain consciousness in a relatively short period of time. Naloxone is administered by injection or intranasally as a mist.

An increasing number of emergency first responders are now carrying naloxone kits as are some police units in select areas of the country. Local government is now more involved too with new legislation having been proposed in the last year to dramatically increase funding for the provision of naloxone kits.

Ideally, naloxone will one day become readily available without prescription to anyone via their local pharmacy. There is no upside to politicizing something as beneficial as naloxone because it simply saves lives. Note that the medication itself produces no drug high.