Opioid overdoses: Federal measure could help
With the scourge of prescription drug abuse still taking a deadly toll on the coalfields of southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia, area lawmakers are increasingly encouraging physicians to co-prescribe the life-saving drug Naloxone.
Naloxone is considered to be a safe and effective antidote to opioid overdoses. A new state law took effect in West Virginia earlier this year allowing first responders, friends and family to administer the potentially life-saving medication to people overdosing on opioids, including heroin.
Under the state law, first responders, police, firefighters, people at risk of overdosing and their family, friends and caretakers can carry the treatment — Naloxone. Health providers would have to offer educational resources on how to use it.
On the federal level, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., introduced the Co-prescribing Saves Lives Act just last week. The federal measure will enable more health professionals to get naloxone into the homes of people who are at risk of overdose.
West Virginia currently has the highest number of drug overdose deaths in the nation. And the deadly prescription drug abuse problem in Virginia is certainly well documented — particularly here in the coalfields of Southwest Virginia. Nationwide, heroin and prescription opioids account for approximately 25,000 American deaths per year. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, reversed more than 26,000 overdose cases between 1996 and 2014, according to Capito and Kaine.
“Families and communities across West Virginia have been affected by the drug abuse epidemic, with our state sadly leading the nation in drug-related overdose deaths,” Capito said. “We must fight this terrible epidemic from all fronts, including preventing deaths from opioid overdoses. This bill will help save lives, better equip our health care professionals with tools to treat overdoses and give West Virginians suffering from addiction a second chance.”
“In every corner of Virginia, the drug abuse epidemic is hurting families, challenging local law enforcement and leaving businesses without a capable workforce,” Kaine added. “A particularly heartbreaking aspect of this crisis is that many of the deaths from opioid and heroin overdoses could have been prevented. My bill would increase access to medication that can save someone’s life during an overdose and establish clear prescribing guidelines that will help get vital information about opioids to doctors and patients.”
The Co-prescribing Saves Lives Act would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish physician education and co-prescribing guidelines for federal health settings, including VA hospitals, DoD hospitals, Indian health service facilities and federally-qualified health centers. Additionally, the bill would authorize a program to grant state Departments of Health funding that would help them establish co-prescribing guidelines, purchase naloxone, and fund training for health professionals and patients.
The federal measure is important, and could help save lives in both West Virginia and Virginia. It merits full consideration and debate in the U.S. Senate, and the full Congress.
