Opioid overdoses are not slowing down in Texas. But locating Narcan, which can reverse the effects of an overdose quickly, has been tough for Texans since it was made available without a prescription last year.
Inconsistent practices from pharmacy to pharmacy and slow resupply times can make Narcan, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, hard to find.When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration made the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone an over-the-counter medication last summer, health care advocates praised the removal of the prescription barrier as an effective tool to prevent fentanyl deaths.
Students at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy called major retail pharmacies in 48 zip codes – including 22 in high poverty zip codes – to ask about availability, brand, price, and location within the store. The group contacted a variety of retailers including Walgreens, CVS, H-E-B, Kroger, Walmart, Costco, and Sam’s Club pharmacies over several months in 2023.
In northwest Austin’s Allandale neighborhood, the H-E-B has two boxes of Narcan located on the shelf next to pain pills. Meanwhile, the Walgreens across the street has an empty Narcan display in front of their pharmacy counter. “Given the tragic trend of fentanyl poisonings occurring across Texas, especially among school-aged youth, wide availability of naloxone can literally save lives,” Hegar said in a statement., launched the state’s multimedia campaign last year known as “One Pill Kills” to emphasize the importance of Narcan and the dangers of the synthetic opioid known as fentanyl, a drug 50 times more potent than heroin.
Jennifer Ruffcorn, a Texas Health and Human Services spokesperson, said their agency hasn’t notified pharmacies to tell them they should be selling over the counter. She also said the agency doesn’t have statistics on naloxone availability or what pharmacies currently sell naloxone over the counter.
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