PA bills will expand access to opioid overdose reversal agents
PENNSYLVANIA (WTAJ) — Two bills will soon be introduced to help provide more resources to first responders and law enforcement to fight opioid overdoses.
Representatives Chris Pielli and Brian Munroe, in a memo to lawmakers, wrote that the current practice in Pennsylvania is 'outdated.' Noting that the Department of Health only allows the use of naloxone despite other options being available.
The CDC reported that deaths involving opioids were estimated to be over 54,000. However, from December 2023 to December 2024, drug overdose deaths in Pennsylvania dropped by 29.94%. Two states, Nevada and South Dakota, were the only ones with increases. Both saw increases of over 4%.
Pennsylvania lawmakers advance bill expanding no-cost breast cancer diagnostics
Naloxone is used by law enforcement and other first responders to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Naloxone works by attaching itself to opioid receptors and then reversing and blocking the effects of opioids.
In the CDC's most recent report, they also listed synthetic opioids, like fentanyl, as being the cause of the largest number of overdose deaths. Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the representatives.
They argue that fentanyl is so strong that it can outlast the effects of naloxone and cause people to 're-overdose.' That's why they feel that first responders should have access to things like nalmefene, which is a longer-lasting opioid antagonist. Currently, nalmefene is only available by prescription.
'While naloxone is a crucial tool for first responders and law enforcement, it cannot be our only option,' The representatives said.
The two bills that they will be introducing would do the following:
Amend the Controlled Substance Drug, Device, and Cosmetic Act to allow nalmefene as an approved opioid antagonist for use over the counter.
Direct the Pennsylvania Department of Health to change their current standing order to include nalmefene as an approved opioid reversal agent for over the counter use.
'We cannot continue to discount the ability of other opioid antagonists to save lives. While our policy continues to stagnate, the illicit drug market evolves, adapts, and finds new ways to draw Pennsylvanians into the throes of addiction or, in an unfortunate number of cases, death,' the representatives added.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
An Optometrist Shared The One Eye Product We Should All Stop Using
Eye health is often overlooked. Tons of Americans skip their annual eye exams: Of those who are considered to be at high risk for vision loss, which is roughly 4 in 10 Americans, 40% didn't get their eyes checked out in the past year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 'It's not until you have [a] problem with your eyes that you really become grateful for your vision,' said Dr. Michelle Holmes, an optometrist at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, California. There's a lot you can do to protect your eye health. You can keep up with your annual eye exams, wear sunglasses to shield your eyes from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays, and avoid wearing contacts to bed or in the pool, to name a few. But is there one habit you should never do, even though it may seem like eye care: Don't use eye-whitening, or red-eye relieving, drops. 'My concern with those types of eye drops is that eye-whitening drops can be used by someone to mask redness, and, oftentimes, that redness is a symptom of some more serious underlying condition,' Holmes told HuffPost. Here's why you may want to steer clear of redness relief eye drops. Related: If You Don't Pass This Extremely Easy Hygiene Test, You're Officially Stinkier Than The Average Human Related: It Turns Out That Most People Wipe Their Butts Completely Wrong, But This Doctor Is Here To Teach Us The Right Way When your eye is irritated, as it may be with pink eye or certain allergies, the blood vessels located in the front of the eye will dilate and engorge. 'That's what causes the white part of the eye to look red and angry,' Holmes explained. Those blood vessels serve an important purpose — when inflamed, they indicate something is wrong, Holmes said. This could be due to a mild problem, such as a cold or dust in the eye, or it may be a symptom of a more serious health condition like an infection, glaucoma or a corneal abrasion. 'It's not normal to have a red, angry-looking eye,' Holmes said. Red-eye relieving drops target these blood vessels to constrict and minimize their appearance. Temporarily, this makes the eyes white again, however, these drops could mask the problem at hand. 'It may make you think everything is OK with your eyes when really the can be something quite serious going on,' Holmes said. It's a bandaid, not a fix, she added. That redness can help your eye doctor detect eye diseases. With certain eye conditions, time is of the essence. Left untreated, they can worsen and lead to complications, including infections, and, in serious cases, vision loss. Not to mention, these drops may cause a rebound effect. 'As the eye drops wear off and nutrients and oxygen start to flow back through those blood vessels, they actually will dilate and engorge more than initially,' Holmes said. People can then get trapped in a cycle: their eyes appear red and irritated, they use redness-relieving drops that provide temporary relief, but then the redness comes back — this time, even worse — and they use the drops again. In some cases, people become dependent on red-eye relieving drops and the underlying health issue is never addressed, Holmes said. There are other remedies you can use instead. Whenever a patient tells Holmes they use eye-whitening drops, she recommends they opt for lubricating artificial tears instead. Her advice: use preservative-free drops — 'they're gentler on the eyes,' she explained. These products are generally thought to be the safest type of preservative-free eye drops. The Food and Drug Administration recently issued a warning against 26 over-the-counter eye drop products due to the risk of eye infections that may cause partial vision loss or blindness. Finally, if your eye is red and irritated, talk to an eye care provider. Even if you give your local eye clinic a call, the front desk should be able to triage the redness — and determine if you need follow-up care or testing — and recommend safe, effective eye drops. 'Oftentimes, the cause of the redness can be determined and more effectively addressed when the reason why is known,' Holmes article originally appeared on HuffPost. Also in Goodful: This Woman Is Going Viral For Begging Women Not To Get Married Right Now, And Personally, I Couldn't Agree More Also in Goodful: People Are Sharing Their Biggest "How Doesn't Everyone Know This?" Facts, And I'm Honestly Embarrassed I Never Realized Some Of These Also in Goodful: "I Thought This Was Normal": People Are Sharing Diagnoses They Received After Someone Else Pointed Out Their Symptoms
Bloomberg
7 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Supermarkets Could Be Fined If They Fail to Hit New Healthy Eating Targets
Supermarkets could be fined if they do not sell healthier food, under a new Government plan to tackle obesity. The "healthy food standard" will apply to retailers and manufacturers in England as part of a 10-year strategy to cut diet-related diseases, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Supermarkets could be fined if they fail to hit new healthy eating targets
Supermarkets could be fined if they do not sell healthier food, under a new Government plan to tackle obesity. The 'healthy food standard' will apply to retailers and manufacturers in England as part of a 10-year strategy to cut diet-related diseases, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said. Initially developed by innovation agency Nesta, the policy introduces mandatory health targets for retailers while giving them flexibility in how to meet them, such as by tweaking recipes, running price promotions on healthier items, or redesigning store layouts. Supermarkets will be required to report sales data and those that fail to hit targets could face financial penalties, Nesta suggested. Nesta analysed 36 million supermarket transactions, finding an average shopping basket health score of 67 out of 100, and has set a target to raise this to 69. Its modelling shows that raising the score by just two points would cut obesity by around a fifth over three years, helping more than three million people to achieve a healthier weight. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: 'If everyone who is overweight reduced their calorie intake by around 200 calories a day – the equivalent of a bottle of fizzy drink – obesity would be halved. 'This Government's ambition for kids today is for them to be part of the healthiest generation of children ever. That is within our grasp. With the smart steps we're taking today, we can give every child a healthy start to life. 'Our brilliant supermarkets already do so much work for our communities and are trying to make their stores healthier, and we want to work with them and other businesses to create a level playing field. 'Through our new healthy food standard, we will make the healthy choice the easy choice, because prevention is better than cure.' The Government aims to introduce mandatory reporting by the end of this parliament in 2029, with the standard to be achieved some way into the next. Ken Murphy, chief executive of Tesco, welcomed the announcement, while Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury's, called it an 'important and positive step forward in helping the nation to eat well'. Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said: 'This is a fair and evidence-based prescription for better health; big businesses urgently need the government to level the playing field to help them focus on selling products that help people live well.' Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: 'Our food strategy will bring together the health plan, food producers and retailers to make sure we can feed the nation more healthily while growing the economic success of our food sector.' Anna Taylor, executive director of the Food Foundation, said: 'The introduction of mandatory reporting by all large food companies, including takeaway chains, on the healthiness of their food sales is a game changer.' Sonia Pombo, head of impact and research at Action on Salt, said: 'This will help shift the responsibility away from individuals and toward a food system that truly supports healthier choices.' Sign in to access your portfolio
