FDA makes it easier for harm reduction groups to purchase lifesaving naloxone

Photo by Scott Olson / Getty Images

Harm reduction programs will soon be able to more easily bulk buy medication that can treat opioid overdoses, thanks to new guidance from the Food and Drug Administration. The guidance centers around naloxone, which reverses overdoses. Advocacy groups have been pushing for this change, which will make it much easier for them to distribute the lifesaving drug.

Naloxone is currently a prescription drug at the federal level, even though state-level laws make it so people don't need a prescription to obtain it. But because of the federal rules, manufacturers normally have to follow specific requirements around how they can distribute the drug. Those guidelines made it hard for harm reduction groups, which work to prevent overdoses, to get...

Continue reading...