As the opioid crisis continues to rage across the United States, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams urges more Americans to carry the opioid-overdose-reversing drug naloxone, known commercially as Narcan.
“Each day we lose 115 Americans to an opioid overdose — that’s one person every 12.5 minutes,” Adams said in a statement. “It is time to make sure more people have access to this lifesaving medication, because 77 percent of opioid overdose deaths occur outside of a medical setting and more than half occur at home.”
The Surgeon General’s move validates what many addiction experts have been promoting for years, according to Dr. Samuel Silverman, Medical Director of Addiction Services at Rushford.
“Patients in residential and outpatient programs at Rushford are educated on [the availability and administration of] Narcan when they come in for assessment. They’re given the opportunity for a prescription or a kit. And, when they are discharged we make sure they are educated” said Silverman. “We’ve been hitting it pretty hard and heavy for a number of years on this issue.”
Narcan is also available without a prescription in many drug store chains across the U.S.
Dr. Silverman says education and distribution of Narcan falls under, what he calls, the three “D’s” of fighting the opioid crisis.
“First there is distribution. We must get the pills off the street and continue to improve our prescription monitoring programs. Second, there is demand. We must reduce demand by treating patients who have opioid abuse disorders. Third, we need to prevent death from overdoses. That can be done, in part, with Narcan and education about Narcan,” Silverman said.
While he admits it can be challenging, Silverman encourages family members of loved ones of someone will opioid dependency to learn more about how to acquire and administer Narcan.
To learn more about Rushford or if you seek help with addiction, call 1.855.HHC.HERE or click here for more information.