Important Information Regarding Treatment of Accidental Opioid Drug Overdose - via MediCal

Important Information Regarding Treatment of Accidental Opioid Drug Overdose

April 3, 2014

Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), overdose rates have increased roughly five-fold since 1990. The CDC attributes much of the rise in drug overdose deaths to a higher use of prescription opioids.

In response, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is taking appropriate measures to reverse this trend. One such measure is the recent release of a letter from the DHCS Medical Director, Dr. Neal Kohatsu, encouraging physicians to provide routine access to the opioid antagonist naloxone for all patients at risk of opioid overdose (for example, those on long term and/or high dose opioids). Naloxone is used to immediately reverse the fatal effects of opioid overdose, thereby saving lives.

Medi-Cal providers are strongly encouraged to read Dr. Kohatsu’s letter on naloxone and the associated materials on prevention and emergency response training for opioid overdose appearing in a future Medi-Cal Update.

http://files.medi-cal.ca.gov/pubsdoco/newsroom/newsroom_22470.asp