Ohio House approves drug-overdose bill

By Marc Kovac | March 5, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

COLUMBUS

The Ohio House signed off on legislation aimed at providing quicker access of a prescription drug used to counter heroin overdoses.

HB 4 passed on a vote of 98-0 Wednesday and heads to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.

The legislation focuses on Naloxone, which is sold under the brand name Narcan.

“It instantaneously blocks the effects of an opioid overdose,” said Rep. Jeffrey Rezabek, R-Clayton, a primary co-sponsor of HB 4. “The medication is nonaddictive, and to an unaffected individual, there will be little or no side effect. Simply put, this medication can save lives.”

The bill builds on law changes enacted last year that authorized doctors and other health care professionals to prescribe Naloxone to “a friend, family member or other individual in a position to provide assistance” to known addicts. The earlier bill also enabled law enforcement to obtain quantities of the drug for use when responding to overdoses.

HB 4 takes Naloxone access a step further, enabling family members and close friends of drug addicts to obtain the drug without a written prescription. Pharmacists and others would be authorized to furnish the drugs to such individuals, provided they follow a physician-established protocol.

The House action came on the same day Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine announced an agreement with the maker of Naloxone to provide a rebate to law enforcement and other public offices that purchase the drug.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc. agreed to pay $6 per Naloxone syringe purchased by nonfederal public entities over the next 12 months.

DeWine sought the payments after the company “dramatically increased” the price of the drug.

“Because we were able to secure these rebates, law enforcement and other agencies can use the money they save to buy more doses of Naloxone,” De-Wine said in a release. The more doses that are available, the more lives that can be saved.”

DeWine’s office estimated that Naloxone was used more than 10,500 times in Ohio in 2012 to counter opioid overdoses.