Sacramento – California residents are now eligible for naloxone, a drug used to treat opioid overdoses, to buy for $24 through the state’s prescription website, the CalRX brand, the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a press release Monday.
“Life-saving drugs should not bear a life-changing price tag. CALRX is meant to make naloxone basic drugs like naloxone affordable and accessible to all, not a privileged minority,” Newsom said in a press release.
Naloxone is an easy-to-use nasal spray that reverses overdose and can save lives. In an emergency, anyone with an overdose or potentially at risk should carry naloxone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the double-package of all Californians’ double-sided over-the-counter naloxone HCl 4 mg nasal spray is used for $24 per carton, almost half the standard market price.
(Governor’s Press Office)
The move expands a program launched last year that allows naloxone to provide a large number of free organizations for nonprofits, universities and first responders. The state pays $24 per two dose units, down from $41 previously charged by suppliers, saving $17 million since May 2024.
Newsom’s office said preliminary data as of June 2024 showed that there has been a decrease in the number of synthetic opioid overdose deaths in California since 2018. It said that while the decline cannot create a factor, a comprehensive effort to address the crisis involving fentanyl and other opioids seems to make a difference.
The statewide reduction reflects the smoothness of ruthless population overdose deaths in Los Angeles County, as public health officials continued to increase the distribution of naloxone last year.
Part of Newsom’s plan to address the opioid crisis includes naloxone in middle schools and high schools across the state, while making it widely available through CALRX at a low price. The bill signed last year Newsom may require the workplace to store naloxone in a first aid kit from 2028 to 2028.
Newsom hopes to use CALRX to produce a universal version of insulin, naloxone and other drugs at an acute price, and announced in 2023 along with a $50 million contract with nonprofits. Despite years of setbacks cut by multiple health care initiatives and the Trump administration’s Medicaid, the Governor still promises to provide universal insulin for $30.
