Case Study: Narcan Administration

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Narcan administration by first responders: “If Narcan is “free” to addicts because they have a disease, why isn’t “chemo” free for cancer patients” (Wizzinjolly). Today, naloxone is now free to those who suffer from addiction to legal and illegal drugs. However, chemotherapy is outrageously expensive to those who suffer from many types of deadly cancers. Narcan carried by emergency services should not be administered to just any overdose due to the financial impact, impact of your quality and quantity of life, and your choice versus mishap of an overdose. The financial burden and impact of Narcan can make or break the consumer and producer. Most emergency services carry the more common Narcan injection that will reduce the overdose …show more content…
“Federal and state government have spent millions of dollars equipping police officers and other first responders with naloxone.” (Luthra). While the government spends so much time and money to prepare to reverse someone's mistake or bad habit their taking away money and resources to those who have a disease they can not control nor prevent. “The device’s price surge is way out of step with production costs, and a needless drain on healthcare resources.” (Luthra) With limited funding, there should only be a certain amount of Narcan for each county and each emergency vehicle as well as should only be given to an accidental overdose that didn't happen with illegal drugs. Narcan was not intended to be there to reverse every overdose. It was initially created and given to patients in a result of a health crisis. It was designed to be “modeled and marketed for a major public health crisis.” (Luthra) This quickly reversed into being a life-saving antidote to reverse people's …show more content…
The use of illegal drugs is already a crime so administering Narcan as a bystander is being an accessory to the overdosers crime. When drugs are bought off the street and taken in an excessive amount resulting in an overdose can cause various issues leading to tough decisions that have to be made by bystanders and or emergency services. Some drug addicts like the feeling of an overdose so they may intentionally shoot up an excessive amount of a drug (Bazazi). Overdoses kill over twenty-two thousand people each year (Szalavitz). This is a large chunk of our society that either chooses to have that overdose or didn't know what they were doing when they took the medication. “Opioid crisis has led more experts to call for expanded access to naloxone - for people navigating addiction and those around them.” (Luthra) Proving this over the counter Narcan is encouraging addicts to do drugs and gives them the hope and comfort that someone will be there to give them the spray and they be okay and they still got their high (Bazazi). In reality, there is not always going to be someone there to reverse their overdose and administer the Narcan. “Patients can abuse multiple drugs concurrently, and remove the “braking” ability… which may cause more significant issues.” (Hsieh) Allowing people to always reverse the overdose for a repetitive user can potentially harm them more than it is helping