The male suffered a near-fatal overdose on Albert Street but was saved by bystanders, including from nearby shops and addiction charity We Are With You. It comes days after another overdose victim’s life was saved by a passer-by just a few hundred metres away near the Cowgate underpass.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced it is requiring that labeling for opioid pain medicine and medicine to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) be updated to recommend that as a routine part of prescribing these medicines, health care professionals should discuss the availability of naloxone with patients and caregivers, both when beginning and renewing treatment.
Who needs a free naloxone kit? Just about anyone who might come across an opioid overdose, according to a range of University of Alberta experts including a pharmacist, the head of campus security, a student volunteer and a public health scientist.
On Sunday at a media briefing in Edinburgh, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman announced that “the Lord Advocate has confirmed that – for the duration of this crisis – it would not be in the public interest to prosecute any individual – working for a service registered with the Scottish Government – who supplies naloxone in an emergency, to save a life”. This development aims to increase the distribution of naloxone kits by relaxing the rules around who can supply the life-saving medication. It remains the case that anyone can legally administer naloxone, to anyone, for the purpose of responding to a suspected opiate-related overdose.
The window clings with the well-known ‘save someone’ logo will be provided to local naloxone leads who will distribute to services in their health board area that have naloxone available for use in an emergency. Most of these services will have naloxone available to take home as well. The ‘save someone’ logo was established in 2012 and has been used by colleagues and agencies internationally to promote the life-saving medication.
Peer distribution of naloxone is the best way to get the opioid overdose reversal drug where it’s needed. Andy struts through Redcar town centre, his bright blue naloxone hoody protecting him from the fierce north sea breeze. He bellows hello to a woman across the street and fist bumps a guy he knows from his childhood. Then he sees a man he recognises from picking up his methadone script and it’s all systems go. Andy asks if he’s heard of naloxone. He hasn’t. He asks if he’d like to learn how to save a life. He would. The two sit together on a bench outside Sports Direct. In just eight minutes Andy expertly takes him through how to respond if someone has taken an opiate overdose. With a slap on the back, he hands the man a naloxone pack to keep and waves him on his way.
