Dive Brief:
- The price of naloxone, which is used as a heroin antidote, doubled last fall from roughly $20 per dose to a cost of $35 to $40, putting tremendous pressure on health officials who treat addicts.
- Naloxone is manufactured by Amphastar and available in a syringe that can be used for needle injection or as a nasal spray.
- Last spring, the state of New York allocated $5 million to allow enforcement agencies to buy naloxone kits, along with an atomizer for nasal administration.
Dive Insight:
With skyrocketing rates of heroin and opioid abuse and addiction, using naloxone as an antidote has become a municipal matter in many towns and cities. As such, police departments and public officials stock it.
When Amphastar suddenly raised prices last fall, it greatly reduced the ability of municipalities to maintain sufficient supplies. Then, Eric Schneiderman, the Attorney General of New York, stepped in and negotiated a deal which provides for a $6 rebate per dose on the current cost of the drug for police departments and other agencies in New York.
Whether other states are also attempting to negotiate discounts is unclear, but New York has set a good precedent.