State Health Commissioner Jerome M. Adams, M.D., M.P.H., announced Friday he is renewing a statewide standing order that removes barriers to Hoosiers in need of a lifesaving medication that can reverse opioid overdoses.
Dr. Adams’ new standing order for naloxone takes effect at 12:01 a.m. July 1. Its goal is to make it easier for individuals to obtain the overdose-reversal medication. Individuals seeking naloxone can visit www.optIN.in.gov to find an entity registered to provide naloxone and obtain the medication without first getting a prescription from their own prescriber. Nearly 500 locations, including pharmacies, nonprofits and local health departments, are listed on the site.
Provisional data show that in 2016, 1,271 Hoosiers died of drug poisoning, while nearly 8,300 people visited Indiana emergency departments due to nonfatal opioid overdoses.
In order to use either the standing order signed by Dr. Adams or an order from another licensed prescriber, entities registered at www.optIN.in.gov must maintain a current registration on the site, provide education and training on drug overdose response, treatment and administration of the drug, and instruct those who administer naloxone to call 911. Registered naloxone entities must also report the dates and number of doses distributed to the state annually. Training and other resources for prescribers, naloxone entities and those who may administer the medication are available on the site.
Entities that register with optIN.in.gov can dispense naloxone that can be administered intranasally or through intramuscular injection.
Indiana Medicaid currently covers most medications containing the overdose-intervention agent naloxone hydrochloride without prior authorization. Reimbursement for naloxone products is available when dispensed by a pharmacy using the statewide standing order. In accordance with ISDH’s statewide standing order, intranasal and intramuscular naloxone kits are part of the pharmacy benefit to Medicaid and Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) members. Members should consult their pharmacist to learn more about which products are covered by Indiana Medicaid without prior authorization. For those products requiring prior authorization, members will still need to obtain a written prescription from their personal physician.
Naloxone is a non-narcotic medication that reverses the life-threatening respiratory failure that is usually the cause of overdose deaths. It is approved by the Food and Drug Administration and has been used for more than 40 years by emergency medical services personnel to reverse opioid overdose and revive people who might have died without treatment. It is not addictive, and although it is only effective at reversing overdoses of opioid drugs like heroin or prescription painkillers, it is not harmful if administered to someone who has not taken opioids.
For more information about naloxone or where to find it, visit www.optIN.in.gov. To learn more about the Indiana State Department of Health, visit www.StateHealth.in.gov. Follow the Indiana State Department of Health on Twitter at @StateHealthIN and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/isdh1.
