Opioid overdose treatment: FDA approves easy-to-use Narcan drug, the first nasal spray form of naloxone hydrochloride

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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given their go signal for the use of Narcan nasal spray, which is the first FDA-approved nasal spray version of naloxone hydrochloride, a form of medication that helps in reversing the effects of an opioid overdose, according to the government agency's press release.

"Combating the opioid abuse epidemic is a top priority for the FDA," said Stephen Ostroff, M.D., acting commissioner, Food and Drug Administration. "We cannot stand by while Americans are dying. While naloxone will not solve the underlying problems of the opioid epidemic, we are speeding to review new formulations that will ultimately save lives that might otherwise be lost to drug addiction and overdose."

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), drug overdose was the leading cause of injury death among Americans in 2013. For people 25 to 64 years old, drug overdose caused more deaths than motor vehicle traffic crashes. There were 44 people dying every day in the U.S. because of prescription opioid overdose. 

Opioids are a class of drugs that include prescription medications such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, and morphine, as well as the illegal drug heroin. In 2013, close to 52 percent of the 43,982 drug overdose deaths in the country were related to prescription drugs based on the CDC data.

There were more men who are dying from the prescription opioid overdose, but the mortality gap between men and women has also declined in recent years. In fact, there was a 400 percent surge in the death of women due to prescription painkiller overdoses between 1999 to 2010, as compared to 237 percent among men.

According to Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, they heed the call of the people to be able to provide a new way of administering naloxone to combat opioid overdose.

"We heard the public call for this new route of administration, and we are happy to have been able to move so quickly on a product we are confident will deliver consistently adequate levels of the medication - a critical attribute for this emergency life-saving drug," she said.

Prior to the nasal spray approval from the FDA, the medication for opioid overdose was only administered via injectable forms. Nora Volkow, M.D., director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health, believes that because of this easier to use nasal spray treatment more lives will be saved.