Amid the addiction and overdose epidemic plaguing the Levittown area, one local police department has received a donation of the life-saving opiate antidote Evzio, commonly known as naloxone or Narcan.
The Falls Township Police Department received the donation from Kaléo, a Virginia-based pharmaceutical company, who remarked it’s “pleased to make the donation as part of its commitment to widening access to the medication.”
Advertisements
Evzio, an FDA-approved product which became available by prescription in July 2014, has since been aiding in the fight against overdose deaths. Nearly 29,000 Americans died from opioid overdose and unintended drug poisoning in 2014, now surpassing automobile collisions as the leading cause of accidental death in the United States.
“We are honored to support the outstanding efforts of the first-responder community to help save lives of those who are experiencing an opioid overdose,” said T. Spencer Williamson, the CEO of Kaléo.
“The rising number of overdose deaths from opioid-based prescription drugs and heroin is one of the top concerns for our community,” said Chief William Wilcox. “This product delivers a potentially life-saving dose of naloxone via a simple to use auto-injector system that is easy to carry and administer to someone experiencing an opioid overdose.”
Advertisements
The Falls Township Police Department has been administering naloxone products in overdose calls for nearly two years. In 2016, officers responded to 71 overdose calls, six of which were fatal. So far in 2017, the department has already responded to 16 overdose calls, marking about one a day since the start of the new year. Fatalities are already projected to hit 2016 numbers just halfway through January, as five people have already lost their life to overdoses in the township.
