NAXOLONE SALES: Maryland’s pharmacies can now sell naloxone to anyone interested in the opioid overdose reversing drug, lifting the requirement for training and certification. The standing order by Dr. Howard Haft, state deputy secretary for public health, follows a legislative effort spearheaded by Gov. Larry Hogan to tackle the state’s growing rate of fatalities linked to heroin and synthetic opioids, Phil Davis of the Annapolis Capital reports.
ADDICTION’s PERSONAL TOLL: In an op-ed for the Sun, David Trone, Maryland businessman and former congressional candidate, writes from personal experience about the difficulty in dealing with a beloved family member who is addicted to opioids. “My story is not unusual,” he writes. “In 2015, the most recent year for which the Centers for Disease Control have issued official data, 52,404 Americans died from drug overdoses, an all-time high. A recent CDC study suggests official statistics underestimate the number of opioid-related fatalities.”
