State naloxone access laws are associated with an increase in the number of naloxone prescriptions dispensed in retail pharmacies

Jing Xu; Corey S Davis; Marisa Cruz; Peter Lurie

doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.04.020

State naloxone access laws are associated with an increase in the number of naloxone prescriptions dispensed in retail pharmacies

Drug Alcohol Depend. 2018 Aug 1;189:37-41. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.04.020. Epub 2018 May 29.

Authors

Jing Xu¹, Corey S Davis², Marisa Cruz³, Peter Lurie⁴

Affiliations

¹ US Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave, Silver Spring, MD, 20993, USA. Electronic address: Jing.Xu@fda.hhs.gov.
² Network for Public Health Law, 3701 Wilshire Blvd. #750, Los Angeles, CA, 90010, USA. Electronic address: cdavis@networkforphl.org.
³ US Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD, 20993, USA. Electronic address: Marisa.Cruz@fda.hhs.gov.
⁴ Center for Science in the Public Interest, 1220 L St. N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC, 20005, USA. Electronic address: plurie@cspinet.org.

PMID: 29860058
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.04.020

Abstract

Background: In response to the ongoing opioid overdose epidemic, many states have enacted laws increasing naloxone access by lay people, such as friends and family members of people who use drugs (PWUD), as well as PWUD themselves.

Method: We utilized Symphony Health Solutions' PHAST Prescription data from 2007 to 2016 to investigate whether naloxone access laws were associated with an increase in naloxone dispensed from retail pharmacies in the United States.

Result: Using a negative binomial regression, we found that naloxone access laws were associated with an average increase of 78 prescriptions dispensed per state per quarter. This represents an average 79% increase in naloxone dispensed from U.S. retail pharmacies, compared with states where there were no such laws.

Conclusion: Our study suggests that naloxone access laws can increase the availability and accessibility of naloxone.

Keywords: Law; Naloxone; Opioids; Overdose; Public health.

Publication types

Comparative Study

MeSH terms

Drug Prescriptions / statistics & numerical data*
Drug Utilization / legislation & jurisprudence*
Drug Utilization / statistics & numerical data*
Health Services Accessibility / legislation & jurisprudence*
Humans
Naloxone* / therapeutic use
Narcotic Antagonists / therapeutic use
Pharmacies / statistics & numerical data*
United States

Substances

Narcotic Antagonists
Naloxone