Queens lawmaker proposes bill to co-prescribe naloxone with opioids to fight addiction and overdose

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In response to the increase in opioid addiction in New York and across the country in 2020, a Queens lawmaker passed a life saving bill to co-prescribe overdose antidotes with opioids.

Bill A336A, sponsored by Assemblyman Edward Braunstein and Senator Pete Harckham (S2966A), would require that medical professionals co-prescribe an antagonist like naloxone with new opioid prescription once annually when certain patient risk factors are present.

Currently naloxone hydrochloride is mainly used in emergency capacities to block the effects of opioids and reverse overdose. The bill would co-prescribe the drug to patients with a history of overdose or are prescribed a high dose or cumulative prescriptions that result in 90 morphine milligram equivalents or more per day, or those who concurrently use benzodiazepines or cumulative prescriptions that result in 90 morphine milligram equivalents or more per day, or who concurrently use benzodiazepines.