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Douglas Huntsinger, the executive director for the Office of Drug Prevention, Treatment and Enforcement, said Indiana invested $1 million in 2020 to provide the 25,000 doses of naloxone to anyone who needed it. Now, Overdose Lifeline and the state distribute an estimated 24,000 doses a month.
Abigail Ruhman / IPB NewsIndiana has distributed more than 1 million doses of naloxone since partnering with Overdose Lifeline in 2020.
Advocates and state officials said it was one of the many solutions that contributed to Indiana’s significant decrease in overdose deaths last year.
Naloxone is a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose, allowing people to seek further treatment for an overdose after.
Indiana has helped fund Overdose Lifeline's distribution of the medicine.
Justin Phillips founded Overdose Lifeline in 2014 after her son died of an overdose. The organization has worked to support people affected by substance use disorder, starting with a law that allowed people full access to naloxone. Phillips said she wanted to use her pain to “dismantle despair."
“The shame and stigma around this disease is very real,” Phillips said. “As a mother, and as someone in recovery, I didn't want to go tell anyone and ask for help, comfort or support.”
Phillips said Overdose Lifeline works with a network of 200 distributors to connect people with the “life-saving” drug.
“We have a model in Indiana that other states should really consider adopting,” Phillips said.
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Douglas Huntsinger, the executive director for the Office of Drug Prevention, Treatment and Enforcement, said Indiana invested $1 million in 2020 to provide the 25,000 doses of naloxone to anyone who needed it.
“To put that in perspective, we're now distributing an estimated 24,000 doses every month,” Huntsinger said.
Indiana has funded the placement of 430 NaloxBox units and 18 naloxone vending machines statewide. The NaloxBox units are accessible 24 hours a day for people to pick up a kit at an outside location with no personal interaction needed. The vending machines are repurposed to carry up to 300 free naloxone kits 24 hours a day.
Overdose Lifeline also allows people to request a kit be sent to them via mail through its website.
Abigail is our health reporter. Contact them at aruhman@wboi.org.
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