Jewel-Osco has joined other retailers such as CVS and Walgreens in offering opioid overdose antidote Narcan without a prescription.
Narcan, the brand name for nasal spray naloxone, can be dispensed by pharmacists at the patient’s request for $157.69. Pharmacists also can bill the patient’s health care provider to cover the cost.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Medical Association have recommended that doctors consider co-prescribing opioids and naloxone, under certain circumstances, such as when patients have a history of substance abuse or also use certain other sedatives.
Narcan is a concentrated naloxone nasal spray that competes with opioids to bind with the same receptors in the brain. It normally reverses the effects of opioid overdose in two to three minutes.
Some Chicago-area health care providers, including Edward-Elmhurst Health and Amita Health’s primary care doctors group, are also considering giving some patients with opioid prescriptions anadditional prescription for naloxone.
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