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HHS To Fund More Narcan Programs To Halt Opioid Deaths
Donna Leinwand Leger, USA TODAY 12:12 a.m. EDT March 26, 2015
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A kit of naloxone, a heroin antidote that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, is displayed at a press conference about a new community prevention program for heroin overdoses in which New York police officers will carry kits of naloxone. The Naloxone is administered nasally.
(Photo: Andrew Burton, Getty Images)


For years, HHS has funding and pushed for a broad array of programs to combat prescription drug abuse, Richard Frank, assistant secretary for planning and evaluation, said.

"What I think is different here, we've decided to put focus on a limited set of areas. We're going to double down on the areas where the evidence suggests we can have significant impact," Frank said.

Police departments, emergency medical technicians and other first responders around the country have begun carrying naloxone, known by its brand name, Narcan, which can block and reverse the effects of heroin or an opioid painkiller when a user overdoses. The training and medicine can be expensive. States may use substance abuse block grant funding to purchase naloxone. President Obama's budget proposes an additional $12 million in grants to purchase the medicine and equip and train first responders.



Naloxone, used to treat drug opiate overdose patients, is sold under the brand name Narcan. (Photo: Toby Talbot, AP)


Frank says HHS wants to drive the money to the states with particularly high overdose rates.

Naloxone programs are a key component of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's National Drug Control Strategy, which has worked with the Food and Drug Administration to fast-track the approval of an auto-injector for naloxone and has created an overdose toolkit for first responders.

"We know that naloxone is saving lives," ONDCP director Michael Botticelli said. Burwell's plan " to increase its use will go a long way toward reducing overdose deaths, which have devastated so many families and communities across the country."

To increase access to treatment, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will provide $12 million in grants to purchase medicine used to treat opioid addiction, such as buprenorphine and naloxone, and train healthcare providers to use the medicines as part of a treatment program. The president's budget asks for another $13 million to expand the program in 2016.

The government will also invest $20 million this year and has asked for $45 million next year for prescription drug monitoring programs which track prescriptions for narcotics to prevent addicts from going from doctor to doctor to collect multiple prescriptions. Doctors, pharmacists and other medical professionals can access the databases before prescribing. The systems can also identify doctors who may be overprescribing.

"Some states have very sophisticated systems to identifying troubling patterns. Other states are less developed," Frank said. "We're moving toward having best practices in all 50 states."

HHS will ask Congress to pass legislation that requires medical professionals to have specific training to prescribe the powerful painkillers. The Centers for Disease Control is also working on new guidelines for prescribing narcotics to treat people with chronic pain.

"All this is done in the context that we have an opioid abuse problem, but we also have a pain problem in this country," Frank said. "We want to humanely and appropriate (treat) pain while minimizing the opioid addiction problem."






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