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Massachusetts Reaches First In Nation Agreement For Opioid Reversal Drug

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http://www.mass.gov/ago/
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www.mass.gov/ago/
Mass. Attorney General Maura Healey (D-Mass.)

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey says the state has reached a first-in-the-nation agreement with the maker of an opioid overdose reversal drug.Attorney General Maura Healey was joined by legislative and law enforcement leaders in Boston Monday to announce an agreement with Amphastar Pharmaceuticals. The California-based company makes naloxone, commonly known as Narcan, a drug that can be applied nasally to reverse the effects of opioids.

“Last year alone heroin and opioids claimed the lives of over 1,200 people across this state – an average of four people a day,” said Healey.

Under a bulk purchasing agreement Amphastar will put $325,000 into a newly created state fund administered by the public health department so that municipalities can get the drug at a predictable price. As approved by the legislature, the state will put $150,000 into the fund.

“Last year we know first responders used about 11,000 doses of Narcan,” Healey said. “Today’s funding will allow us to make available the equivalent of 15,000 doses to every fire and police department in the state that needs it at a sharply reduced rate.”

Narcan’s wholesale price jumped from $15 to more than $30 in late 2014. Meanwhile, some Massachusetts communities have been paying roughly $65 for one dose of Narcan. Healey says the public health department now buys Narcan at $33.

“It cuts through the red tape,” Healey said. “It cuts through the middle man. It establishes a bulk purchasing arrangement so now cities and town will be able to access it directly through the state department of public health. It doesn’t require extra paperwork or to submit receipts so you get a rebate after the fact.”

Quincy’s police department was the first in the country to require every patrol officer to carry Narcan. Healey says data shows first responders in the city were able to save overdose victims 95 percent of the time. Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins says over the past five years his office has trained 780 inmates how to use Narcan.

“Additionally all of my command staff has been trained and by the end of next year my entire labor force which numbers over a thousand people will know how to use Narcan,” said Tompkins.

Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders says the Narcan agreement is part of an overall approach to confront what the state calls an epidemic through education, prevention and treatment.

“We will be in this fight for the long haul until we can truly say we have bent the trend in opioid deaths in the commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said Sudders.

Earlier this month, Healey spoke about legislation she filed to make it a crime to traffic fentanyl — a synthetic painkiller that is up to 50 times more potent than heroin. Since fentanyl is not a narcotic, it is not covered by the same criminal laws that apply to heroin and prescription painkillers that have fueled the state’s drug addiction crisis. Heroin and opioid deaths have increased 57 percent since 2012. Trafficking fentanyl would be punishable by up to 20 years in prison under the legislation.

Jim is WAMC’s Associate News Director and hosts WAMC's flagship news programs: Midday Magazine, Northeast Report and Northeast Report Late Edition. Email: jlevulis@wamc.org
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