It's no coincidence that the price of naloxone, a drug used to reverse the effects of a heroin overdose, was promptly doubled after police began carrying it last year. Now, the attorney general has cut a deal with Amphastar Pharmaceuticals that will cap the cost of naloxone through a rebate program.
According to a release from AG Eric Schneiderman, the new contract will offer a $6 rebate per dose, reducing the wholesale price of the drug by nearly 20 percent. The agreement is the result of a concerned letter Schneiderman sent to Amphastar last year expressing that the increased price could block access to the drug.
"It is essential that we secure our state’s access to this powerful, life-saving antidote,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “My office responded swiftly to negotiate the best possible price of naloxone, which is an essential tool in our multifaceted approach to combat the scourge of heroin abuse in New York. This deal ensures that we can continue to give New Yorkers who have overdosed on opioids a second chance at life—and rehabilitation.”
An injectable dose of naloxone costs $3, but many police departments, including the NYPD, have opted to use a form of the drug administered as a nasal spray, which requires a higher concentration and also less medical training. This form of naloxone comes in a kit that used to cost around $20, and now costs in excess of $40.
Opioid overdoses were behind the deaths of 2,000 New Yorkers in 2011, more than double the number killed in 2004. Nationally, fatal heroin doses increased 45 percent from 2006 to 2010.
