As part of the national opioid settlement, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office submitted the first quarterly purchase order for the life-saving opioid overdose treatment drug, naloxone, from Teva Pharmaceuticals.
The first shipment will go to Yuma, Pima, Navajo, Mohave and Gila counties, which were identified with the greatest need and the storage capacity and staff to handle distribution.
Teva will provide naloxone to states for up to 10 years as part of the national opioid settlement agreement in lieu of a cash option. In addition, Arizona will receive approximately $85 million in settlement funds over 13 years as well as injunctive relief to ban the deceptive marketing practices that perpetuated the opioid epidemic.
In total, county health departments will receive 55,442 units of naloxone over the next two years. The order for the first quarter was made on December 5, 2023 and the first shipments will be distributed to the following in June 2024:
Yuma: 900 units
Pima: 3,000 units
Navajo: 1,200 units
Mohave: 1,200 units
Gila: 700 units
The distribution program will help public libraries, inmate re-entry programs, community-based service groups, emergency rooms, and many more distribution channels get this life-saving drug into the hands of those who can make the best use of it.
Each unit of naloxone consists of two doses. The average number of doses administered to reverse an opioid overdose is 1.7. This program has the potential to save tens of thousands of Arizona lives over its duration.
Each shipment can be sent to up to five locations. Selection of the organizations to receive the naloxone kits was determined based on community need, capacity of the organizations to store and distribute kits, as well as their ability to train the users in proper administration of doses.
Naloxone is the generic equivalent of Narcan, an opioid overdose reversal drug, that has saved close to 40,000 Arizona lives during the past six years. During this same timeframe, another 10,651 opioid deaths occurred, almost half of which were under the age of 34.