Legal requirements and recommendations to prescribe naloxone

Concurrent Naloxone Dispensing Among Individuals with High-Risk Opioid Prescriptions, USA, 2015–2019

“…Increases in concurrent naloxone dispensing during the study period may be due to the release of the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain and recent laws requiring clinicians to co-prescribe naloxone when overdose risk factors are present. 2,6 Continued increase in concurrent naloxone dispensing is an important tool to reduce opioid overdose mortality. Given low levels of clinician knowledge and self-efficacy concerning counseling patients on overdose and naloxone, 7 efforts such as academic detailing, virtual mentoring, and electronic health record alerts can further educate and prompt clinicians about naloxone prescribing.…”

An Epidemic in the Midst of a Pandemic: Opioid Use Disorder and COVID-19

“…Recognizing the imperative to address potentially dire disruptions in care, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently released new guidance increasing the ability of opioid treatment programs to transfer as many patients as possible to takehome methadone maintenance protocols (3). To address concern that SAMHSA's new guidance might spur an increase in nonmedical methadone use, as well as to improve quality of care, persons receiving take-home methadone should be coprescribed naloxone, an opioid reversal agent that may mitigate the risks of fatal overdose among those at high risk (4).…”

Naloxone Buyers Club: Overlooked Critical Public Health Infrastructure for Preventing Overdose Deaths

“…Experience from Australia suggests that only pharmacists already providing harm reduction services (e.g., syringes) are receptive to offering take-home naloxone (Nielsen and Olsen, 2021). Co-prescribing of naloxone with prescription opioids also faces low uptake (Haffajee et al, 2020). The main branded manufacturer (Emergent BioSolutions, Gaithersburg, Maryland) has forwarded a narrative emphasizing retail pharmacy as the primary avenue for over-the-counter naloxone for their expensive nasal spray (Knopf, 2020).…”