Boston Medical Center receives grant to study pharmacy-based naloxone rescue kits

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has granted $1.3 million to Boston Medical Center to support a demonstration project of pharmacy-based naloxone rescue kits to reduce opioid addiction and overdose death in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

“While education and intervention have come a long way in the past several years, there is still a lot of work to be done to reduce opioid overdose and overdose death,” study researcher Traci C. Green, PhD, MSc, of the Injury Prevention Center at Boston Medical Center, said in a press release. “Pharmacies have enormous potential to expand the reach and impact of critical public health interventions, just as we have seen happen with pharmacy access to clean syringes and adult immunizations. But how do we do that with naloxone rescue kits? That’s what we intend to figure out here in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.”

Currently, hospitals and pharmacies in Massachusetts and Rhode Island provide naloxone to patients with substance use disorder and their family members for immediate use after an overdose. State-funded community programs educate families, friends and individuals who use opioids on overdose recognition and naloxone administration.

Boston Medical Center will collaborate with Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, R.I., and CVS Health to evaluate pharmacies’ role within these current efforts to increase availability of naloxone.

Researchers will also identify community and organizational factors associated with successful implementation of a protocol they developed for pharmacies to supply, order and provide naloxone to patients. The protocol is currently conducted in pharmacies in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including 418 CVS pharmacies.

“CVS Health has a long-standing commitment to prevent prescription drug abuse and our participation in this demonstration project complements our ongoing efforts to expand the availability and distribution of naloxone to prevent opioid overdoses,” study researcher William Shrank, MD, chief scientific officer of CVS Health, said in the release. “All of our CVS/pharmacy locations in Rhode Island and Massachusetts keep naloxone in stock and it is available without a prescription. In addition, by the end of this month, CVS/pharmacy will be able to dispense naloxone without a prescription in 14 additional states.”