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Stopping Overdoses with a Spray

A Massachusetts pilot recently helped in reversing 500 opioid overdoses -- all thanks to a nose spray.

BY: | March 1, 2010



Saving someone from a drug overdose could be as easy as administering a nose spray. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced last week that its two-year-old Opioid Overdose Prevention and Reversal Project had helped reverse 500 overdoses through the use of naloxone (Narcan) as a nasal spray. Naloxone, which is also administered intravenously, blocks the effects of opioids like oxycodone and heroin by restoring the user's breathing. The Boston Public Health Commission used nasal naloxone in a 2006 study, which found that 385 trained participants helped reverse 74 overdoses. BPHC is now one of eight programs in the state providing nasal naloxone training and counseling to 4,300 participants on how to recognize and react to an overdose. (Photo thumbnail: newtype2011 on Flickr)


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Tina Trenkner
Tina Trenkner

Tina Trenkner is the Deputy Editor for GOVERNING.com. She edits the Technology and Health newsletters.

E-mail: ttrenkner@governing.com
Twitter: @tinatrenkner

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