DR. LEANA WEN: REMOVE RED TAPE TO SAVE LIVES (Center Maryland Op-ed)

Monday Mar 6th, 2017

The opioid epidemic continues to ravage Maryland, killing more residents every year than traffic accidents. We are in the midst of a public health emergency.

Across the state, nearly 1500 people lost their lives to drug or alcohol overdose in the first nine months of 2016. The powerful opioid known as fentanyl is driving these high rates; in Baltimore City, fatal overdoses involving the drug have increased 20 times in the least three years.

These deaths are especially tragic because there is one medication — naloxone — that is a complete antidote to an opioid overdose. As an emergency physician, I have used the medication hundreds of times and have seen firsthand that it can bring someone on the verge of death back to life in seconds. Naloxone is safe, with virtually no side effects if given to someone who is not on opioids. It is easy to administer, with two versions, one that’s a nasal spray and one that’s given like an Epi-Pen.

Naloxone gives everyone the power to save a life. And in Baltimore, it has.

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When I’ve asked experts about these approaches, it’s not that any of them are bad. It’s that they fall short. For instance, Leana Wen, the former health commissioner of Baltimore (and soon-to-be president of Planned Parenthood), said that the Support for Patients and Communities Act “is simply tinkering around the edges.”

Read the entire story.

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