Bill heading to the U.S. Senate floor aimed at reducing drug overdose deaths
A federal bill aiming to prevent overdose deaths is now heading to the Senate floor.
The bill, sponsored by United States Senator Tim Kaine (D) of Virginia, would make a life-saving drug more widely available.
Kaine said this bill would help get Naloxone, a safe and effective antidote to opioids, into the homes of people at-risk of overdose.
This bill called the “Co-Prescribing Saves Lives Act” encourages physicians to co-prescribe Naloxone alongside opioid prescriptions. It also makes makes Naloxone more widely available in federal health settings.
“The number of opioid deaths in the state of Tennessee is more than motor vehicle accidents,” Cicely Alvis, case worker and site manager for Frontier Health’s Crisis Stabilization Unit. “Having access to something like Naloxone could save potentially many lives.”
The drug comes in the form of a nasal spray or injection and typically takes effect within minutes.
“Naloxone is a lifesaver, and it’s fantastic at what it does especially since it doesn’t have negative consequences if it gets administered to someone who is not having an overdose,” Kaine said.
Alvis said the majority of substance abuse cases involve opioids, which can be drugs from Percocet to heroin.
“We are substantially higher in the northeast region of Tennessee than the rest of the state,” Alvis said.
In Tennessee laws have been passed in recent years allowing doctors to prescribe Naloxone.
Alvis said before Naloxone is ever needed, the addiction can begin with a prescription.
“Many of these opioid addictions start when you’re a teenager, and so as a parent if you have a child and they are injured and they go to the dentist and the dentist or the doctor is going to prescribe some sort of medication I’d be really mindful of what medication they are receiving,” Alvis said.
“It’s just shocking what had been done with these drugs over the last 20 years,” Kaine said.
Kaine said even with more access to Naloxone, “It’s a lifesaver that’s great, but the real way to battle this problem all around the country is to tackle the massive demand for these drugs, that has been frankly fed by unethical marketing practices and lack of sufficient education,” Kaine said.
A U.S. Senate committee passed the bill Wedneday and it can now advance to the full Senate floor for a vote.
