The Opioid epidemic keeps on killing tens of thousands of US citizens every year but the naloxone drug has proved to be extremely valuable in its prevention of deaths related to overdose. A rise in its cost in recent times has restricted one’s access to naloxone, thereby having the potential to deprive professionals in the healthcare department, responders in emergency cases and families that are in need of receiving critical treatment, which can help save lives.
The experts believe that the force behind the price hike is nothing but the rise in overdoses, which has provided a boost in demand for naloxone, going with the lack of sufficient rules to frame by the federal agency, which could put a check upon the increase in prices, then a drug industry, which is lacking in any kind of competition and final the lack of transparency displayed by the pharmaceutical firms towards setting the prices for drugs, so as to counter the effects that opioids bring about.
The price rise of naloxone comes up at a time when the overdoses of drugs have turned out to be the major reason behind accidental death in America, for all those people who are aged in the range from 25 to 64. As per the health data put out by the federal department, Opioids are more or less involved in almost 665 of all the fatal incidents, which had led to death. The estimates formulated by The U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention say that drug overdoses have resulted in killing a record number of 72000 Americans in the year 2017, which was roughly increased by 10% of the number from the previous year. Most of the deaths were involved in using prescription Opioids, which included OxyContin and Vicodin to talk of the few.
The rise in demand has ensured to get the price for Naloxone up well above 50 percent in recent few years. The estimates done FDA researchers suggest that the price of one naloxone by way of injection has become three times the price since the year 2012, whereas another formulation of the single dose had a rise of 244 percent.
