Ohio CVS to increase antidote availability

Published 9:01 am Monday, February 1, 2016

TOLEDO (AP) — A drug store chain is set to announce that it will make an antidote for heroin overdoses available at its Ohio stores.

The Blade newspaper reports that CVS pharmacy officials, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and the White House national drug policy director will discuss today during a community forum at the University of Toledo how CVS stores will begin carrying naloxone, also known as Narcan.

The antidote is becoming increasingly available to the public in recent months as Ohio’s heroin and opiate epidemic continues unabated. The drug is administered as an inhaler or with an injection and can reverse the breath suppression effects of opioids.

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Ohio Department of Public Safety records show that naloxone was administered nearly 13,000 times around the state last year.