Anti-Overdose Drug Price Jump Concerns Connecticut Officials

The price of the powerful opiate overdose-reversing drug Naloxone also known as Narcan has at least doubled in a short time period.

The price increase prompted Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen to write a letter to a manufacturer inquiring about the reasons behind the price increase.

Naloxone was first approved by the FDA in 1971 and is manufactured by several different companies. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc. creates an intranasal version of the drug that is popular with police and health departments, according to NPR.

The drug can reverse some overdoses long enough to get the victim to a hospital for additional treatment. 

The price in fall 2014 per dose was about $20 for Amphastar’s product, said Robert Blanchard, spokesman for the attorney general’s office. The price has gone up to about $40 or $50 a dose and in some cases has gone higher than that. Those prices are consistent with what Baltimore’s health department was paying, according to NPR.

“I have serious concerns that the steep price increase, occurring in the midst of significant budget constraints that the state is currently encountering, may very well negatively impact state and municipal first responders’ efforts to utilize Naloxone at the very time when it is needed the most,” Jepsen wrote in his letter to Amphastar.

Related:

• Heroin Killing Connecticut Residents At An Alarming Rate
• Trumbull PD Saves Overdose Victim on Verge of Death

Amphastar said it raised prices due to increased manufacturing costs, according to NPR

Heroin was involved in 325 overdose deaths in Connecticut during 2014, according to data from the Office of the State Medical Examiner. Projections put the number of overdose death victims for heroin at 326 by the end of the year.

Heroin, morphine and/or codeine was detected in 347 deaths last year. Several other opiates were detected in a number of other deaths as well.

Around fall 2014 Connecticut passed a law that limited the liability for people administering the drug to a suspected overdose victim. The move opened up the door for police departments, including Connecticut State Police to carry the drug.

State police have administered the drug successfully 34 times to heroin-related overdose victims since October 2014. Several local departments including Trumbull have also successfully saved lives.

“To date, I have yet to see any public justification from Amphastar for these increases,” Jepsen wrote. “In the face of a public health crisis and at a crucial time in our battle to save lives that may be lost to the scourge of opioid abuse and addiction, these price increases will undoubtedly make our efforts to save lives much more difficult.”

Image via Connecticut Department of Health and Addiction Services