Narcan

Naloxone manufacturer Hospira issued a voluntary recall of its single-use cartridge syringe system for the opioid overdose antidote.

The company says it found loose or embedded particulate matter on the syringe plunger. The recall is on lot numbers 7260LL and 76510LL.

If someone is exposed to the particulate, Hospira says there is a low chance of experiencing adverse health effects including allergic reactions and pulmonary dysfunction.

Though no one has tracked national numbers, overdoses in schools appear to be rare. Still, a high-profile foundation is partnering with a pharmaceutical company to make sure school nurses are prepared for the worst.

The FDA has approved the first nasal spray version of naloxone, or Narcan, the drug used to save people from opioid overdoses.

Police officers and others have been using a spray form of Narcan for several years, converting the already-approved injectable drug into a mist with a kit. The Camden County, New Jersey Police Department, for example, has saved 159 people from overdoses with off-label spray naloxone since May of 2014.

State health officials, law enforcement and legislators all praise what’s sometimes referred to as the miraculous effects of nalxone - a drug that saves lives by reversing the effects of overdoses from heroin and prescription opioids.

But many pharmacies aren’t stocking the drug.

While naloxone - a drug that's gaining nationwide visibility for its ability to reverse opioid overdoses - is federally classified as a prescription drug, some states have passed laws that allow pharmacies to sell it without one. 

  A bill to expand access to the overdose intervention drug naloxone was signed into law by Indiana Governor Mike Pence Friday, after passing both the house and the state senate unanimously. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, can instantly save the life of a person who is overdosing. It was previously only available to medical personnel and public safety officials, and opioid drug users with a prescription from their doctor.

When Justin Phillips lost her son Aaron to a heroin overdose on October of 2013, she didn’t know there was a drug that could have saved his life. Now she’s a passionate advocate for expanding the availability of that drug, naloxone, in Indiana through her non-profit Overdose Lifeline.  At a recent Indiana House committee meeting, she told lawmakers that she doesn’t want other parents to go through what she did.