HARRISBURG, Pa. — The FDA has approved the opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan to be sold over-the-counter, without a prescription.
Narcan, the brand name of the drug naloxone, will be available for direct purchase in drug stores, convenience stores, gas stations and online, according to a release from the FDA.
The decision comes as opioid overdose deaths have skyrocketed in recent years. Nearly 107,000 people died of opioid overdoses in 2021, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Addiction specialists and outreach groups praised the move as a way to increase access to the life-saving drug.
“I think we’re universally in favor of it. Certainly increasing access to naloxone will help to decrease stigma,” said Dr. Greg Swartzentruber, who specializes in addiction medicine at UPMC.
Public health officials have encouraged those who use opioids, as well as their friends and family, to carry naloxone as a safety precaution.
Philadelphia-based organization Prevention Point has distributed more than 61,000 in the first six months of the fiscal year, according to lead executive director Jose Benitez, Lead Executive Director.
He continued in a statement:
“Over-the-counter Narcan can reach even more people than community-based non-profits like Prevention Point…The most important thing is to have low barriers to access for anyone who wants to save a life.”
Yet barriers remain. One of the biggest is cost, as the average price for two doses of nasal spray is $130 according to drug price tracking company GoodRX.
“Many people have the attitude where they say, ‘Why would I spend money on something I have no intention of using?’” Dr. Swartzentruber said.
Emergent solutions, the company that makes Narcan, has not revealed how much the over-the-counter product would cost.
It’s unclear how many stores will carry the drug and whether it will be covered by insurance.
“There are many people right now that are getting naloxone free of charge from programs, so we want that option to remain open. We would hope that this is about broadening access, not shifting access to that some people now end up with more access than others,” said Emma Roberts, senior director of national capacity building at the National Harm Reduction Coalition.
The over-the-counter version of Narcan will be packaged in a larger box with detailed instructions. Emergent Biosolutions hopes to make the nasal spray available on store shelves and online by late summer.
Addiction specialists cautioned that while greater access is always positive, the drug is only the first step to ending the opioid crisis.
“Narcan is the treatment for an overdose but it’s not the treatment for the substance abuse disorder that led to the overdose,” Swartzentruber said.