Statement attributable to:
Patrice A. Harris, MD, MA
President-elect, chair of the AMA Opioid Task Force
American Medical Association
“The AMA applauds the FDA and Commissioner Gottlieb for today’s action to provide labeling that would allow for over-the-counter availability of naloxone, a move that will save people from opioid-related overdose. Naloxone has saved tens of thousands of lives, and the AMA continues to strongly urge physicians to co-prescribe naloxone to patients at risk of opioid-related overdose.
“As called for by AMA policy and ongoing advocacy, today’s action should spur efforts by naloxone manufacturers to submit applications for their products to receive over-the-counter status. Doing so would be an important step to save even more lives from a national epidemic.”
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The American Medical Association is the physicians’ powerful ally in patient care. As the only medical association that convenes 190+ state and specialty medical societies and other critical stakeholders, the AMA represents physicians with a unified voice to all key players in health care. The AMA leverages its strength by removing the obstacles that interfere with patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises and, driving the future of medicine to tackle the biggest challenges in health care.
