FDA Wants Doctors to Discuss Naloxone with Patients

FDA says it is requiring that labeling for opioid pain medicines and medicine used to treat opioid use disorder be updated to recommend that healthcare professionals routinely discuss the availability of naloxone with patients and caregivers, both when beginning and renewing treatment. An agency drug safety communication says healthcare professionals should discuss the availability of naloxone and consider prescribing it to patients who are at an increased risk of opioid overdose, such as those who are using benzodiazepines or other medicines that depress the central nervous system, who have a history of opioid use disorder, or who have experienced a previous opioid overdose.

The agency says healthcare professionals should also consider prescribing naloxone if the patient has household members, including children, or other close contacts at risk for accidental ingestion or opioid overdose.