SACRAMENTO — Californians can now purchase opioid reversal medicine instantly from the state underneath a program geared toward making the life-saving medicine inexpensive and extra accessible, officers stated Monday.
The state started promoting its personal generic model of Narcan final yr for $24 per twin-pack to companies and native governments, and can now additionally promote to particular person shoppers on-line. A field containing two doses of naloxone nasal spray prices between $45 and $70 from common pharmacies and on-line marketplaces.
Opioid overdose deaths, that are attributable to heroin, fentanyl and oxycodone, have elevated dramatically in California and throughout the nation in recent times, reaching 7,847 within the state in 2023. However California officers say they’ve began to see a decline in these deaths.
The transfer is a part of a broader push by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to attempt to power drug corporations to decrease their costs by providing cheaper, competing variations of medicine underneath the state’s CalRx label.
“Life-saving medications shouldn’t come with a life-altering price tag. CalRx is about making essential drugs like naloxone affordable and accessible for all — not the privileged few,” Newsom stated in an announcement.
Naloxone, which may reverse overdoses of opioids, has been out there within the U.S. with no prescription since March of 2023, when the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration authorized Narcan, a nasal spray model produced by the Maryland-based pharmaceutical firm Emergent BioSolutions.
California can be engaged on a plan to make insulin extra reasonably priced for residents. The state has an settlement with the nonprofit Civica to supply CalRx-branded insulin used to deal with diabetes.
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