Deaths from heroin overdose are up in King County and other parts of the Northwest, but the lifesaving opiate antidote Naloxone -- made legally available by prescription under the 2010 911 Good Samaritan Law -- is still not readliy available to those in need. The drug, also known as Narcan, has long been used by paramedics and emergency-room doctors to pull overdose victims back from the brink of death. The Good Samaritan Law makes it legal for drug users and those around them to obtain naloxone and to administer the drug in emergencies to someone experiencing an overdose. But lack of availability of the drug and lack of awareness by the public naloxone have so far limited the effectiveness of the new law.
Read more in the Seattle Times.
