The Use of Narcan as an Overdose-Reversal Injection: The Case for a Safe and Effective Method to Test for Fentanyl in Drug Supplies
If more people had access to the spray at home or in their pockets or knapsacks, many deaths could be avoided.
In 2022, the US Drug Enforcement Administration seized over 50 million fake prescription pills and more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl. All of this comes as parents and caregivers are increasingly concerned about fentanyl poisonings among teens and young adults who unknowingly consume fentanyl-laced pills illegally sold under the guise of a less powerful drug.
There is a method, championed by harm reduction advocates, to test for fentanyl in drug supplies by using fentanyl test strips. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more information on how to use the test. Note that just because one pill doesn’t have fentanyl in it doesn’t mean that every pill from that supplier won’t have it. fentanyl test strips wont pick up xylazine or other potentially deadly contaminants.
If a person has a suspected overdose, you should call the emergency services. If they took an opiate or two, there is a chance they could have had something else in their drug supply that wouldn’t respond to Naxal.
In recommending that the spray become as easily available as ibuprofen, the 19 voting panelists determined that naloxone, which was approved as an overdose-reversal injection in 1971, is abundantly safe and effective even in infants, with almost no potential for misuse or abuse. naloxone does not need medical training to be used, the panels concluded.
The medicine has a greater benefit compared to the side effects associated with withdrawal, panel members said. It is believed that Naloxone, which comes in a spray and a prefilled syringe, saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
The drug blocks the effects of opiates on the brain. The respiratory system, and other bodily functions, can be hurt by opiate use. Narcan can wake someone from a fatal overdose by disrupting that connection before it is too late. The instructions on the two-pack carton say that the Narcan administrator should apply one dose in the nostril of a person suspected of having overdosed and then call 911. A second dose may be applied in the other nostril if the person does not wake up within 2 or 3 minutes.
Many people don’t know about the misuse of Fentanyl but it’s helpful to know what makes it so deadly and what can be done to reverse it. Fentanyl and xylazine are tranquilizers, but they are increasingly being used together. Is there a way to tell whether counterfeit drugs have fentanyl or xylazine in them? Parents and worried family members can protect loved ones from a Fentanyl overdose.
To guide us through questions about these medications, I spoke with CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. She is the chair of the advisory board for Behavioral Health Group, which has an outpatient treatment network foropioid treatment and recovery across the United States. She oversaw the city’s opiate prevention strategy while she was health commissioner.
There are legitimate medical uses for fentanyl. For example, cancer patients who have terrible pain may experience relief with a fentanyl patch or lozenge. Or someone who just broke their arm and needs immediate pain relief could benefit from a fentanyl shot.
These events happen when patients are given the drug in appropriate settings. Most opioid overdoses aren’t due to fentanyl being diverted from a legitimate medical purpose.
I would highly recommend that anyone who uses any kind of narcotics, regardless of its source, carry on with their life with the overdose reversal drug, naloxone. If they are overdosing themselves, they can’t save their own life, but people using drugs are likely to be around others who use, too, and they can help to revive others. They were able to tell their friends and family where they have the antidote in case they needed to administer it.
Wen: I have no. Naloxone works to reverse overdoses from heroin. However, it does not work against benzodiazepines, which are a separate class of drugs from opioids. It does not appear to be effective against xylazine which is a tranquilizer approved for use in humans but is also used to tranquillise horses. Both tranq and other drugs have been found mixed with xylazine, which can be fatal.