State to give away anti-overdose drug naloxone next week

HARRISBURG (AP) — Pennsylvania is expanding efforts to make the anti-overdose medication naloxone available to the public with a statewide distribution day next week.

Officials said Thursday that naloxone will be provided free to any state resident at 80 locations — most of them state, county and municipal health offices — from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Dec. 13.

The drug is also regularly available at most pharmacies in Pennsylvania, at little or no cost for those with insurance.

It can reverse overdoses by blocking opioids’ effect on the brain and respiratory system.

The Wolf administration says over the past four years more than 20,000 people in Pennsylvania have been revived by police and emergency medical services responders using naloxone.