Naloxone was patented in 1961 and approved for opioid overdose in the United States in 1971. It is on the World Health Organizations List of Essential Medicines. Naloxone is available as a generic medication. In April 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a higher dose naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray product (Kloxxado) intended to treat opioid overdose from fentanyl and its analogues, which are many times stronger than heroin. Medical uses
Opioid overdose
Naloxone is useful in treating both acute opioid overdose and respiratory or mental depression due to opioids. Whether it is useful in those in cardiac arrest due to an opioid overdose is unclear.It is included as a part of emergency overdose response kits distributed to heroin and other opioid drug users, and to emergency responders. This has been shown to reduce rates of deaths due to overdose. A prescription for naloxone is recommended if a person is on a high dose of opioid (>100 mg of morphine equivalence/day), is prescribed any dose of opioid accompanied by a benzodiazepine, or is suspected or known to use opioids nonmedically. Prescribing naloxone should be accompanied by standard education that includes preventing, identifying, and responding to an overdose; rescue breathing; and calling emergency services.Distribution of naloxone to individuals likely to encounter people who overdose is part of the harm reduction initiatives that have spread throughout the US and the world.
Noting the high risk of overdose among people with HIV who inject drugs, international HIV donors including the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Open Society Foundations, have supported the purchase and distribution of naloxone to those at risk in low- and middle income countries.In 2017, Next Harm Reduction in New York State began distributing naloxone and other harm reduction supplies by mail to those in the US unable to get them locally.In 2018, a maker of naloxone announced it would provide a free kit including two doses of the nasal spray, as well as educational materials, to each of the 16,568 public libraries and 2,700 YMCAs in the U.S.

Media
The 2013 documentary film Reach for Me: Fighting to End the American Drug Overdose Epidemic interviews people involved in naloxone programs aiming to make naloxone available to opioid users and people with chronic pain. Criticism
Some political commentators, law enforcement workers, and addiction specialists have argued naloxone enables opioid addiction and worsens the crisis. Some police officers report reviving the same addict multiple times and that the availability of naloxone have allowed some addicts to push their use over the edge. Conservative radio host Lars Larson noted that naloxone only works for an hour, and if a person does not receive stabilizing medical help in that time, the addict just overdoses again. Other critics have noted Narcan nasal sprays American manufacturer views colleges, schools, libraries, and community centers as "untapped markets" and a "growth opportunity."