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Records: Overdose Antidote Given More Than 12,600 Times
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio Department of Public Safety records indicate a drug overdose antidote that can help save addicts on the brink of death was administered more than 12,600 times around the state last year.
Naloxone blocks brain receptors, immediately pulling people out of a potentially fatal overdose.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed a bill last year expanding availability of the drug. It let doctors authorize individuals to hand out a drug overdose antidote to addicts, their friends and family members without requiring a prescription.
Fatal drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in Ohio, above car crashes.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl says his agency has seen a five-fold increase in overdoses emergency calls handled by police and fire emergency personnel since 2010.