Some health insurers in Massachusetts say they will continue coverage for Narcan when it becomes available without a prescription. Narcan, a common brand of naloxone, is used to reverse an opioid overdose. Offering the drug prescription-free is designed to make it more accessible, but at $50 or more per kit, it could be unaffordable without insurance coverage.
The Supreme Court order is expected to delay payments to thousands of plaintiffs and to groups and government agencies battling the opioid epidemic. Some say that funding is needed quickly and urgently.
Naloxone has been used to reverse thousands of opioid overdoses in Massachusetts every year. Now, some local advocates worry that a federal decision to make one brand, Narcan, available without a prescription could make the overdose reversal medication too expensive for some users.
PETERSONLyle Lyle was born September 7, 1952 at St. Mary’s hospital in Trochu to Albert and Henrietta Peterson. Lyle was the eldest of his 11 siblings. He was raised on a farm west of Trochu and