Review debunks take-home naloxone ‘myth’
The provision of take-home naloxone to patients doesn’t encourage wider use of illicit or pharmaceutical opioids, an Australian systematic review finds.
The idea that patients might use naloxone as a “safety net” and put themselves at risk of overdose is one reason some doctors give for being reticent to prescribe the emergency treatment, but there is no evidence for this, say the researchers from Monash University and the Burnet Institute, Melbourne.