BARRY’S BAY – Ontario is expanding the availability to the drug Naloxone by administering 28,000 kits to 1,000 pharmacies around the province free of charge, and Barry’s Bay is one of those places.
By the end of March, more than 28,000 Naloxone kits have been given to 1,000 pharmacies, 40 public health units and community-based organizations that run needle exchange and hepatitis C programs free of charge.
Naloxone is an anti-opioid drug used to prevent an overdose. When a person is believed to be overdosing, you are to call 911 then inject the needle into the thigh or deltoid. Maureen Lepinskie, pharmacist at Lorraine’s Pharmasave in Barry’s Bay, said this just something to hold the patient in a stable condition until they are able to receive more medical attention.
“If you are overdosing from an opioid medication it helps blocks the effects of it,” Lepinskie said. “It’s only a temporary reversal.”
Get your April 19, 2017 edition of The Valley Gazette to read the full article.