Naloxone shortage could lead to 11,000+ deaths, many rural

A shortage of the opioid-overdose antidote drug naloxone could result in thousands of overdose deaths in rural and other under-served areas that are already less likely to have access to the drug, Meryl Kornfield reports for The Washington Post. One organizer estimated that the back-order of 250,000 doses could lead to at least 11,000 more overdose deaths,

Pfizer stopped making naloxone in April after a manufacturing issue and might not be able to meet demand until February, a spokesperson said. Pfizer typically provides the drug at a discount to the Opioid Safety and Naloxone Network Buyer's Club, a consortium of over 100 harm-reduction programs that distribute it. "The community programs that rely on the Buyer’s Club have resorted to seeking donations to buy naloxone at market price or looking for supply from places where the antidote is sitting on shelves and expiring," Kornfield reports. "A dose of generic naloxone typically costs upward of $20 wholesale. Buying the same quantity of the drug from other manufacturers isn’t attainable, activists told The Washington Post."

Programs with limited funding or without adequate local laws and infrastructure to distribute naloxone are likely to suffer most, activists said. "In some areas, especially in the Midwest, South and Appalachian regions, programs operate under the radar, without authorities’ approval, said Eliza Wheeler, another buyer’s club organizer," Kornfield reports. "Harm reduction, or efforts to minimize the harms of substance use, has faced backlash from critics who argue providing clean needles, fentanyl testing strips and naloxone enables drug use. Recent studies show such approaches save lives.