Compassionate Overdose Response: Summit Highlights and Key Takeaways
May 1, 2024
HMA’s Compassionate Overdose Response Summit suggests “high dose” naloxone isn’t necessary.
More than 100,000 people in the United States die every year from drug overdoses, driven by the availability of illicitly manufactured fentanyl. On March 19, 2024, HMA held the Compassionate Overdose Response Summit to discuss overdose response and reversal drugs like naloxone in the context of a fluctuating drug supply. Forty experts participated in consensus-building discussion on a standard of care opioid overdose response protocol. Throughout four panel presentations, a critical message emerged: those responding to an overdose should aim to restore breathing without causing withdrawal by supporting the person’s breathing, giving low or standard doses of naloxone (0.4 mg intramuscular injection and <4 mg intranasal spray) until spontaneous breathing is restored, and creating a calm environment. Despite fluctuations in the drug supply, standard dose naloxone is effective.
The standard dose of naloxone is considered 0.4 mg intramuscular injection and <4 mg intranasal spray. It is extremely effective and preferred by people who experience overdose. Reports at the Summit from four states (Missouri, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and New York) made clear that an increase in naloxone dose is not a necessary response to the presence of fentanyl in the drug supply. Negative reactions following naloxone administration may be avoided, and anger can potentially be managed via low-dose naloxone titration and a calm, compassionate, and considerate communication style between the person who overdosed, the person who administered an opioid antagonist, and bystanders, including EMS.
Another key takeaway from the Summit, and shared in the report released today, was the acute and long-term adverse outcomes of withdrawal on people who experience overdose. The way a person is treated during an overdose, i.e., the communication style of the responder, likelihood of withdrawal, and the care they are offered after, affects their risk behavior such as using more opioids to feel better. In a study from New York State, those who received 8 mg nasal spray were more likely to experience withdrawal than those who received 4 mg nasal spray. People who experience withdrawal after an overdose may be discouraged from seeking help in the future.
“A compassionate overdose response is looking at the entire person. It’s not that moment of reviving them. It’s [also] what happens afterward.” – Joy Rucker, Summit Panelist
The findings shared at the Summit are timely given the availability of high-dose and long-acting overdose reversal products in the US. The FDA continues to ignore the life-threatening side-effects of high-dose products and recently approved a 10 mg nasal spray. This trend has drawn concern from addiction medicine providers, emergency medical services, toxicologists, harm reductionists and people who experience overdose alike. Standard dose products are available at the lowest cost for bulk purchase and decades of research show their use in the community reduces overdose mortality. A chart with currently available opioid overdose reversal products is available at PrescribetoPrevent.org.
What’s Next
To learn more about compassionate overdose response and the significance of overdose reversal product selection, listen to the event proceedings and read the report below. View the webinar replay with links to download PDFs of speakers’ presentations.
Contact Erin Russell to discuss the policy and program implications of the Summit’s findings.
Contributions
The Compassionate Overdose Summit was presented with support from HMA, Harm Reduction Therapeutics, Vital Strategies, the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Funds were used to secure event space and speaker stipends to cover their time and travel needs, hotels, meals, AV equipment, and event staffing.
