Baltimore Health Commissioner Issues Overdose Prevention Plan
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore City Health Commissioner Leana Wen announced Wednesday that the city plans to issue a "standing order" for a medication that completely reverses the effect of an opioid overdose.
Mike Schuh reports for WJZ.
Naloxone, also called Narcan, is the medication in question, and with this standing order, Baltimore City will become the first jurisdiction in Maryland to expand access to the opioid antidote.
"If someone is dying of overdose, they can't save their own life. That's why it's so important for every one of us to learn how to use naloxone," said Baltimore City Health Commissioner, Leana Wen. "Naloxone should be part of everyone's medicine cabinet and everyone's First Aid kit — and now, with the standing order, it can be."
Last year, 303 people in Baltimore City died from overdose — more than the number who died from homicide.
Wen has declared heroin use a public health emergency, and has led a citywide effort to expand the use of naloxone, training more than 4,000 residents this year.
"Naloxone has already prevented hundreds of deaths across Baltimore, and through this standing order, we will be able to put this lifesaving medication in the hands of thousands of Baltimoreans," Wen said.
Under a change in state law that begins Thursday, October 1, doctors in the state of Maryland affiliated with local health departments will be able to issue written standing orders that allow designated individuals, such as overdose response program trainees and pharmacists, to dispense naloxone without a doctor's prescription.
"There is no difference between somebody who is dying from an allergic reaction and someone who is dying from an overdose," Wen said. "It's our duty to save lives, no matter what disease they have."
