Take-home Drug Overdose Treatment Approved by FDA

A hand-held auto-injector designed to reverse opioid overdose has been approved by federal regulators making it available to the family and guardians of at-risk drug abusers in the United States.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the drug Evzio and its automated injector on Thursday, making a means to reverse opioid overdoses available to the loved ones and care-givers of drug abusers.

Evzio, produced by Kaléo, Inc., is a naloxone hydrochloride injection that is rapidly delivered via a handheld auto-injector that can be carried on one's person or stored in an easily accessible area.

The device is intended for emergency treatment of a known of suspected overdose of an opioid drug such as heroin or prescription pain medication. According to the FDA, a traditional opioid overdose is "characterized by decreased breathing or heart rates, or loss of consciousness." In most cases, deaths by opioid overdose are usually caused by asphyxiation.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of opioid overdose-related deaths in the U.S. has been increasing for more than a decade, making overdose deaths the leading cause of "injury death" in the nation.

Recent attention to the drug overdose epidemic that is happening particularly in coastal states like New York and California has inspired the rise of new programs that had put naloxone emergency treatment devices in the hands of first responders and police officers.

At the Whitehouse, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and "Drug Czar" Gil Kerlikoweske have even called for all state law enforcement to adopt "good Samaritan policies" which dictate that authorities cannot arrest anyone when they are contacted to help save an abuser from an overdose.

Now, with the approval of Evizo, naloxone emergency treatment devices have been put in the hands of family and care givers of drug abusers to help lower the opioid overdose death toll in America.

This is a timely approval, as a resent RewResearch poll has indicated that overall American opinion of drug abusers has become more sympathetic, favoring treatment options over jail time.

The FDA announced Evizo's approval in a release published on April 3.