State moves to increase access to drug overdose medication

More people than ever are dying from opioid drug overdoses in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A drug called naloxone can halt the effects of an overdose, but until this month, Montana was one of the few states in the nation without laws addressing access to the emergency medication.

Rep. Frank Garner, R-Kalispell, was one of two Montana legislators to introduce laws to expand access to the drug during the state’s most recent legislative session, which wrapped up in April. Garner, who retired as the Kalispell chief of police in 2006, said he saw the consequences of not having innovative responses to the growing use of drugs.

“I’ve seen bodies dumped in the street because people were afraid to help get people help,” Garner said.

Between 2000 and 2015, 693 Montanans died due to prescription opioid poisoning, according to the Office of Epidemiology.

Garner introduced House Bill 333, also known as the Help Save Lives from Overdose Act. The legislation means people can obtain a prescription for the drug even if they intend to administer it to someone else — that includes first responders, police officers, teachers or family members who would be helping an overdose victim.

Gov. Steve Bullock signed the bill into law earlier this month. On Tuesday, May 30, community volunteers and medical professionals met with Bullock and Garner at Kalispell Regional Medical Center for a ceremonial signing of the legislation.

“This isn’t a law-enforcement issue per se, this is a public-health issue,” Bullock told the small audience.

The bill requires providers to train people receiving the medication and gives legal and civil immunity to those who administer the drug.

The law does not make the medication mandatory, so agencies like police departments will have to decide whether they will have the drug on-hand.

A second law, introduced by Rep. Gordon Pierson, D-Deer Lodge, overlaps with Garner’s bill by allowing schools to have a stock supply of naloxone to administer to students or non-students they believe are overdosing.

GARNER SAID the request for the Help Save Lives from Overdose Act came from discussions with the Flathead Valley Community Drug Task Force, an independent volunteer coalition that formed in 2016.

Naloxone blocks opioids from reaching the brain’s receptors. That means the overdose is stopped in its tracks, allowing victims to breath again.

Garner said since he has retired from the police department, the state’s overdose rates have roughly tripled. The Montana State Crime Lab reported a 475 percent increase in samples testing positive for heroin use since 2013.

“It’s painful for me as a law enforcement and public safety person to say we need this, but we need this to save people’s lives,” he said.

Hugh Easley, the director of pharmacy at Kalispell Regional, said the drug has been used in hospitals for years. But, he said the rising tide of overdose deaths has resulted in calls to make the medication more available to people outside hospital walls.

“There were a series of hurdles out there with people accessing naloxone, with the biggest one getting the prescription,” Easley said. “It was really just limited to primarily paramedics and ERs.”

Kalispell Regional Pediatric Pharmacist Amber Norbeck said a lot of drugs illegally sold are laced with synthetic fentanyls.

“A lot of people don’t know the strength of what they’re buying,” she said. “The best product has the best high — which is the highest risk for overdose.”

She said it’s crucial for people who administer the drug to call 911 for follow-up medical care. Since some opioids can remain in the body up to 12 hours, Norbeck said a person would likely need multiple doses of naloxone after an overdose.

She said the newest piece of legislation is just one piece of the effort that recognizes the growing crisis of addiction in the state. But, she said, it could be a step that immediately saves lives.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.