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Cummings Calls For Lower Prices For Heroin Overdose Antidote

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Rep. Elijah Cummings is calling on Maryland leaders to negotiate lower prices for a heroin overdose antidote to ensure first responders have the drug at hand when they need it.

In a letter to Gov. Larry Hogan, Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford and Attorney General Brian Frosh on Tuesday, Cummings writes that prices for naloxone, a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses, have skyrocketed in recent months and he believes the state is being overcharged. Cummings, a Democrat, writes that the spike coincides with an increase in heroin overdose deaths and he urges them to negotiate lower prices for the drug.

Shareese DeLeaver-Churchill, Hogan's press secretary, said in an email Tuesday that the administration will approach the manufacturer to see if something can be done about naloxone's rising cost.

(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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