NaloxoneSC to continue ahead of FDA decision


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Students can request NARCAN from a University pharmacist, who will first provide the student with necessary education and training. (Emma Silverstein | Daily Trojan)

Student Health will continue its weekly naloxone distribution program, bolstered by the Federal Drug Administration’s advisory panel recommendation that NARCAN be made available over the counter, Chief Student Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman said in a briefing with the Daily Trojan Tuesday.

Last week, two panels of advisors to the FDA recommended that NARCAN — the most well-known brand under which naloxone is sold — be made widely available without a prescription, increasing the likelihood that the FDA will approve an over-the-counter version of naloxone. The recommendation comes just as Student Health revived their annual naloxone distribution program, NaloxoneSC, which takes place weekly at the Trojan Farmers Market on Wednesdays now through April 5.

“We certainly support that,” Van Orman said. “If it’s over-the-counter, in my perspective, that’s just removing one more barrier.”

NARCAN use has become more commonplace with the worsening of the nation’s overdose crisis. Currently, California laws allow pharmacists to dispense NARCAN under a standing prescription to entire programs, as well as individuals.

At present, students can request NARCAN from a University pharmacist, who will first provide the student with necessary education and training related to the drug. If the FDA made NARCAN available without prescription, the process would become even simpler, Van Orman said.

“It would further expand access,” Van Orman said. “It would remove the requirement for the education, although we certainly support the education as well … So in my mind, the more we can get the word out, and the more ways and opportunities that people, not just students, can get access to it and understand the importance, the better.”

Even if NARCAN were to become more readily available at pharmacies across California, Van Orman said, Student Health’s distribution program would still provide added benefit. 

“We know that [for] some people for example, even the idea of going into a pharmacy, where they still require providing an ID, your name, your information — that can still be a barrier,” Van Orman said.

Beyond simply distributing the drug, Van Orman said that raising awareness is also a significant goal of the program.

“I think it’s a great move, but there still will be a need for distribution programs, for education programs, for awareness programs,” Van Orman said. “But again, it’s really all about lowering barriers in whatever way we can lower barriers.”

Campus coronavirus cases are holding steady, with 61 new cases recorded last week. Van Orman warned that though the initial influenza outbreak ended in December, there is a high likelihood that a second wave could occur in the spring.

“[I’m] just encouraging people to keep washing their hands, covering their coughs, staying home when they’re sick, and testing themselves for [the coronavirus],” Van Orman said.