opioid overdose

In Hillsborough, health officials offered the overdose reversal drug to people who stopped by their Tampa office. Other counties recognized the day with education on recognizing overdoses and saving lives.

As national distributors and pharmacies restricted the flow of painkillers in response to the opioid crisis, Florida’s most popular grocer did the opposite, according to a Tampa Bay Times data analysis.

Updated statistics show Escambia EMS ran 10,529 opiate overdose calls from 2021 to 2023, far more than neighboring counties. The demographics and neighborhoods affected were widespread.

School nurses, resource officers and other staff have been trained to use the nasal spray version, Narcan, which can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose.

District officials announced the development last week as they launched a countywide awareness campaign around the deadly risks of fentanyl.

The nasal spray version of naloxone is already available without a prescription in all states. But switching it to over-the-counter status would allow it to be sold in vending machines, supermarkets and other locations.

About a third of the city's 2,000 homeless deaths between April 2020 and March 2021 were from an overdose. The federal government says the highly addictive and lethal synthetic drug has become the deadliest drug in the nation.

The Tallahassee-area drug treatment program received 800 doses of Kloxxado, an 8-milligram internasal naloxone that is similar to Narcan but double the dose.

Three health facilities have been fighting the opioid crisis for several years and are the only providers of naloxone in the county.

The deal in principle would rank among the larger ones in a yearslong trend of companies settling complicated lawsuits over the toll from an addiction and overdose epidemic. That includes a $117 million settlement with Florida announced in March.