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Opioid addiction treatment methods have improved over time, and we use several of them at Tarzana Treatment Centers. We can detox individuals or put them in harm reduction programs, and provide counseling, but there will still be some that succumb to the cravings of heroin or prescription painkillers and suffer an overdose. Overdose deaths have been increasing rapidly in recent years, so law enforcement and health care providers are finding ways to keep people alive.

Naloxone is a drug that stops the effects of opioids on the human body, to put it simply. When a dose is administered to an overdosing individual, he will almost immediately awaken and suffer withdrawals. Although the withdrawals can be painful, that person’s chance of dying at that moment greatly decrease. Naloxone has been used for decades for this sole purpose.

The NY Times reported today that this important treatment has just become more affordable in an article titled Treatment of Overdose Will Cost Cities Less. Cities and other governing bodies have been trying to keep up with the sad increase in demand for Naloxone, and cost has become a factor. This is very welcome news.

It’s important to point out that overdoses are no longer a fate exclusive to heroin “junkies”. Painkiller addiction has become such a widespread problem that it’s difficult to know if even someone close to you has fallen into the trap. And, as we’ve said many times, it doesn’t take much to overdose on opioids. Sometimes it can take just one extra dose to cause respiratory failure, and then it’s just over. So this is a problem that everyone should be aware of, and the lowered cost of Naloxone should come as refreshing news.