Overdoses on heroin and prescription painkillers are epidemic in the U.S., and in Maryland. In the first half of 2015, more than 500 Marylanders died of heroin and pain-pill overdoses. Part of the state’s response is a new policy that lets pharmacists dispense - without a prescription – naloxone, a drug that counteracts the effects of an opioid overdose. Since October Baltimore has issued 1,600 doses of the antidote, and trained 7,000 residents to administer it.
In this hour we’ll talk about the opioid overdose epidemic - and how to fight it - with Baltimore City’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Leana Wen; Dr. Bethany DiPaula, a professor of pharmacy at the University of Maryland; and Beth Schmidt, a mother from Carroll County who lost a son to an overdose and now works to raise awareness.
Originally broadcast 12/23/2015
