Date: 01-08-2015;
Funding to provide heroin overdose kits to Ky. hospitals
Kentucky Press News Service
Heroin overdose reversal kits will be purchased for Kentucky hospitals with the highest rates of heroin overdose deaths, the state announced Wednesday. Overdose patients will receive a kit free of charge when they leave the hospital, so they or a loved one can prevent another overdose event and possibly save a life.
The funding is provided through the Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory Committee (SATAC).
“Heroin has harrowing impacts on people who use it, as well as on their families and their communities. Many hospitals in Kentucky see multiple overdose victims every day,” said Gov. Steve Beshear. “These kits, once in the community, can allow a friend or family member to reverse a heroin overdose almost immediately. It’s a literal lifesaver as families forge a path toward recovery.”
Gov. Beshear created SATAC by executive order to oversee the KY Kids Recovery grant program and distribution of the $32 million in settlement funds that Attorney General Jack Conway secured from two pharmaceutical companies. The judge required the settlement funds be used to expand treatment in Kentucky. Attorney General Conway chairs the committee and First Lady Jane Beshear serves on the committee.
The committee is providing $105,000 to purchase approximately 2,000 Naloxone Rescue kits for the University of Louisville Hospital, the University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington, and the St. Elizabeth Hospital system in Northern Kentucky. The kits will be provided free of charge to every treated and discharged overdose victim at the pilot project hospitals. SATAC hopes to expand the program to 17 more Kentucky hospitals or hospital systems.
“This project will allow us to get this medicine into the hands and homes of the people who need it most – heroin users and their families,” Attorney General Conway said. “Heroin and opiate abuse is killing Kentuckians, and these kits will save lives and provide a second chance for people to seek treatment for their addictions. I hope the legislature will follow our lead by putting partisan politics aside and passing meaningful heroin legislation that will stiffen penalties for large scale traffickers, increase treatment funding, provide for a Good Samaritan defense, and get Naloxone kits into the hands of first responders and limit the civil liability of those responders.”
Naloxone, which is also known as Narcan, has no potential for abuse and immediately reverses the effects of a heroin overdose by physiologically blocking the effects of opiates.
Right now, it is not covered by Medicaid or many private insurance companies, which means even if users currently receive a prescription they likely never fill it because they cannot afford it. Naloxone is available in injectable or nasal mist forms. The nasal mist form must still be approved by the FDA. When it is approved, health experts believe most insurance companies and Medicaid will begin to cover it.
“Narcan kits are critical, lifesaving tools that can help put people on the road to recovery,” said Mrs. Beshear. “As Kentuckians expand access to mental health treatment, including addiction recovery, it’s more important than ever to have community access to tools like Narcan. Often, an overdose experience is what finally drives people suffering from addiction to seek help.”
In 2013, 230 Kentuckians died from heroin overdoses. The final numbers for 2014 are not currently available, but officials do expect an increase in the number of heroin overdose fatalities.
