Overdose Antidote ‘Narcan’ Needs Wider Access: Marin Co Officials

MARIN COUNTY, CA – A recent surge in fentanyl overdoses in Marin County has prompted a local initiative to make the antidote drug, naloxone, often marketed under the brand “Narcan,” more available to the public through pharmacies, area health officials said today.

Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis said he is pleased that 20 out of 36 pharmacies in Marin County furnish naloxone, a medication available in injectable and nasal-spray forms that can reverse the potentially fatal effects of an opioid overdose.

“We’ve been fighting the opioid crisis for several years now, but the trend of fentanyl use among younger people is particularly alarming,” Willis said.

Willis said that an increase in Marin County of overdoses from fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine and blamed for the majority of opioid overdose deaths nationwide, prompted outreach to pharmacies that were not yet furnishing naloxone, officials said.

California law allows pharmacists to furnish naloxone without a doctor’s prescription directly to customers who request it. Most insurance plans cover the cost of the medication, and one need not use opioids themselves to obtain this medication, authorities said.

“If 100 percent of our pharmacies offered naloxone, it would be a big step,” said Dr. Jeff DeVido, Chief of Addiction Services for the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services. “We’re working hard to increase the availability of naloxone, and pharmacies have a vital role to play in getting this life-saving medication into the hands of anyone who might be near someone who is at risk for overdose.”

In Marin County, opioid overdose remains the leading cause of accidental death, officials said.

The RxSafe Marin coalition, founded in 2014 with support from Marin HHS, works with healthcare providers, mental-health specialists, pharmacists, law enforcement, schools and families of people at risk to reduce overdose risk with a wide range of strategies, including promoting wider availability of naloxone, according to authorities.

“Our ambulances respond to three to five opioid overdoses per week in Marin,” Willis said. “The hope always is that the ambulance will arrive in time to revive the person with naloxone. But we can do better. Getting it into the hands of friends and family who may be close by can save lives.”

For Marin County resident Susan Kim, Jan. 23 marks the sixth anniversary of her son’s death from an opioid overdose. Trey Lagomarsino, 23, died after ingesting too much codeine cough syrup. As an RxSafe Marin volunteer, Kim helped develop a list of Marin County pharmacies that furnish naloxone, county officials said.

“Anyone who’s concerned that a loved one could be at risk should visit one of these pharmacies and request Narcan — you don’t need a prescription,” Kim said. “It can give young people struggling with opioids another chance, another opportunity to stay in the fight to recovery.”

This is not the first RxSafe Marin initiative to increase access to the overdose antidote. In 2017, DeVido trained police officers in the use of naloxone.

Law enforcement officers throughout Marin, including those with the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, carry the life-saving medication. Since 2017, officers in Marin have rescued at least nine people from opioid overdose by using naloxone in the field, according to county numbers. Some Marin schools and libraries also are carrying naloxone, and additional addiction-treatment facilities and such community service organizations as San Rafael’s Marin Treatment Center and Corte Madera’s Spahr Center, have helped the effort by furnishing naloxone directly to interested individuals.

“Our ultimate goal is to prevent overdose in the first place by treating addiction,” DeVido said. “Naloxone can help make sure a temporary problem of drug use doesn’t have fatal consequences. We applaud those pharmacies that have stepped up and are offering to provide naloxone to users of opioids and their families or friends. We welcome the opportunity to work with the rest of our pharmacies to bring us to 100 percent participation.”

See more from the California Department of Public Health at its online opioid surveillance dashboard. More resources can be found on the RxSafe Marin website, including “Know the Risks” posters in English and Spanish.

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Photo: Dr. Jeff DeVido, Chief of Addiction Services for Marin HHS, holds up an intranasal naloxone device. Courtesy of County of Marin.

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