PA Health Officials Sign Order To Make Anti-Overdose Drug Available For Everyone
By Mike Dougherty
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- An executive order signed by Pennsylvania's Physician General makes the lifesaving drug Naloxone readily available for anyone.
Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine signed the order because she says opioids like heroin are taking lives and destroying families at a frantic pace.
"As many as seven people a day in our state are dying of drug overdoses."
The executive order makes Neloxone available to anyone who might need it, not just first responders.
"It is our goal to make this process as easy as possible so that individuals across the commonwealth will have access to this medication," says Levine.
Governor Tom Wolf says more than 60 pharmacies in Montgomery County have already agreed to carry it.
"The point is we have a problem and we in Pennsylvania are trying to do something about it," says Wolf.
Wolf is seeking funding in his budget to help counties combat what he calls an epidemic. It's unclear, though, exactly how those funds would be distributed.