This suggests that expired caches of material in community and healthcare settings may still be efficacious substantially beyond their labeled expiration dates. History
Naloxone was patented in 1961 by Mozes J. Lewenstein, Jack Fishman, and the company Sankyo. It was approved for opioid use disorder treatment in the United States in 1971, with opioid overdose prevention kits being distributed by many states to medically untrained people beginning in 1996. From the period of 1996 to 2014, the CDC estimates over 26,000 cases of opioid overdose have been reversed using the kits.Naloxone (Nyxoid) was approved for use in the European Union in September 2017. Society and culture
Names
Naloxone is the generic name of the medication and its INN, BAN, DCF, DCIT, and JAN, while naloxone hydrochloride is its USAN and BANM.The patent has expired and it is available as a generic medication. Several of the newer formulations use patented dispensers (spray mechanisms or autoinjectors), and patent disputes over generic forms of the nasal spray were litigated between 2016 and 2020, when a judge ruled in favor of Teva, the generic manufacturer. Teva announced entry of the first generic nasal spray formulation in December 2021. Brand names of naloxone include Narcan, Kloxxado, Nalone, Evzio, Prenoxad Injection, Narcanti, Narcotan, and Zimhi, among others.
This combination is used in an effort to prevent non-medical use. Other uses
Naloxone can be used to treat opioid induced itchiness and constipation.A 2003 meta-analysis of existing research showed naloxone to improve blood flow in patients with shock, including septic, cardiogenic, hemorrhagic, or spinal shock, but could not determine if this reduced patient deaths.Naloxone has been used experimentally in the treatment of congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis. Special populations
Pregnancy and breastfeeding
Naloxone is pregnancy category B or C in the United States. Studies in rodents given a daily maximum dose of 10 mg naloxone showed no harmful effects to the fetus, although human studies are lacking and the drug does cross the placenta, which may lead to the precipitation of withdrawal in the fetus. In this setting, further research is needed before safety can be assured, so naloxone should be used during pregnancy only if it is a medical necessity.Whether naloxone is excreted in breast milk is unknown, however, it is not orally bioavailable and therefore is unlikely to affect a breastfeeding infant. Children
Naloxone can be used on infants who were exposed to intrauterine opiates administered to mothers during delivery. However, there is insufficient evidence for the use of naloxone to lower cardiorespiratory and neurological depression in these infants. Infants exposed to high concentrations of opiates during pregnancy may have CNS damage in the setting of perinatal asphyxia.