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Pharmaceutical Companies Donate 30,000 Opioid Overdose Reversal Medications

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Ethan Barton Editor in Chief
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Two pharmaceutical companies are donating 30,000 doses of the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone to members of the National Council on Behavioral Health, the group announced Wednesday.

Naloxone manufacturers Adapt Pharma and Kaleo are making the donations following Surgeon General Jerome Adams’ April 5 announcement emphasizing the importance of the medication in the fight against the opioid epidemic. (RELATED: DEA Won’t Explain Why It Banned This Powerful Tool Combating Opioid Addiction)

“In order for people to have every chance to recover, we need to keep them alive, and we know they are at higher risk of death by overdose when they leave residential treatment,” National Council President and CEO Linda Rosenberg said in a statement. “This lifesaving donation will provide National Council member organizations with more tools to help individuals move safely into the next phase of recovery.”

Adapt is donating 20,000 doses and Kaleo is providing the remaining 10,000. Kaleo has already donated more than 300,000 doses, according to President and CEO Spencer Williamson.

Each person who completes an addiction treatment program with one of the National Council members that receive the donations will get two free take-home naloxone doses.

“Thousands of Americans are alive today thanks to the use of naloxone, and this week’s generous donation will help thousands more as they work to enter recovery safely from opioid addiction,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement, noting that increasing naloxone’s availability is central to his department’s battle against the epidemic.

The Department of Health and Human Services has also distributed nearly $45 million grants to equip first responders with naloxone and has provided $1 billion to expand prevention, treatment and recovery services.

Adams added: “Lives are saved every day by community members using naloxone” and “this week’s announcement is an important step in getting naloxone to the people who need it most, when they need it most.”

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