COLUMBUS, OH -- Senator Wants To Approve Overdose Drug For Home Use
"I am alive today because of it and being a productive member in society."
It happens several times a day in Cincinnati- a drug routinely used by EMS and emergency room workers an antidote for drug overdoses is now available in some cities as a sort of home remedy.
It's called naxolone -- marketed under the trademark Narcan. Ohio Senator Eric Kearney introduced a law that would make the life-saving drug available for home use in OhioNews Reporter Deborah Dixon from our sister station in Cincinnati looked at the plan.
"Since beginning of 2013 we used it 257 times. I administer four or five doses a day."
It's administered through an IV or nasal spray. "I let them know they were on the brink of death. They need to seek help so can go on live productive lives."
Ohio Senator Eric Kearney's proposed law would make the anti overdose drug available in homes of addicts. Kearney says it's about saving lives and money. "If someone OD's, it costs taxpayers $10,400 to go to the ER. If you use nalaxone it's 40 dollars."
The proposal has doctors prescribing it to loved ones of heroin addicts to use at home, with special training. Some people are concerned about the message it sends those using heroin. They worry it would encourage drug use or make addicts less likely to seek treatment. "Narcan can give an addict another day to wake in the hospital, to give them a sober day to have an intervention."
Michelle Sharlein is alive because she was narcaned after overdosing in a McDonald's bathroom. It took her years to get treatment at First Step Home, a residential drug treatment center for women where she is now a case manager. But during those years, Michelle was haunted by her brush with death. "Being alive from narcan has allowed me to continue my live, go back to school. I'm working on masters in social work."
Michelle may testify for the bill in Columbus. If so she'll talk about herself and the friend who died from a heroin overdose.
"I am alive today because of it and being a productive member in society."
It happens several times a day in Cincinnati- a drug routinely used by EMS and emergency room workers an antidote for drug overdoses is now available in some cities as a sort of home remedy.
It's called naxolone -- marketed under the trademark Narcan. Ohio Senator Eric Kearney introduced a law that would make the life-saving drug available for home use in OhioNews Reporter Deborah Dixon from our sister station in Cincinnati looked at the plan.
"Since beginning of 2013 we used it 257 times. I administer four or five doses a day."
It's administered through an IV or nasal spray. "I let them know they were on the brink of death. They need to seek help so can go on live productive lives."
Ohio Senator Eric Kearney's proposed law would make the anti overdose drug available in homes of addicts. Kearney says it's about saving lives and money. "If someone OD's, it costs taxpayers $10,400 to go to the ER. If you use nalaxone it's 40 dollars."
The proposal has doctors prescribing it to loved ones of heroin addicts to use at home, with special training. Some people are concerned about the message it sends those using heroin. They worry it would encourage drug use or make addicts less likely to seek treatment. "Narcan can give an addict another day to wake in the hospital, to give them a sober day to have an intervention."
Michelle Sharlein is alive because she was narcaned after overdosing in a McDonald's bathroom. It took her years to get treatment at First Step Home, a residential drug treatment center for women where she is now a case manager. But during those years, Michelle was haunted by her brush with death. "Being alive from narcan has allowed me to continue my live, go back to school. I'm working on masters in social work."
Michelle may testify for the bill in Columbus. If so she'll talk about herself and the friend who died from a heroin overdose.