COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP): State officials are alerting Ohio law enforcement agencies, local health departments and first responders to the availability of a drug overdose antidote.
Ohio recently extended a deal with the maker of naloxone to provide rebates to public agencies that buy the life-saving drug.
California-based Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc. is providing a $6 rebate for each naloxone syringe bought by a non-federal public entity in Ohio over the next 12 months.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office joined several state agencies to host a phone bank on Thursday. Callers were spreading the word about the cost savings to 967 police departments statewide.
A record 2,482 people in Ohio died from accidental overdoses in 2014.
State public safety officials have said naloxone was administered more than 16,000 times in Ohio in 2015.