NARCAN and Naloxone Saves Lives pin distributed to Pharm.D. student trainees.
Faculty and students at the UT College of Pharmacy recently published an article in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association (JAPhA) outlining the efforts of student pharmacists at the college to detail naloxone availability at community pharmacies across Texas.
“Impact of student pharmacist–led naloxone academic detailing at community pharmacies in Texas” was written by Clinical Assistant Professor Lucas G. Hill, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCACP, Clinical Assistant Professor Kirk E. Evoy, Pharm.D., BCACP, BC-ADM, CTTS, Assistant Professor Kelly R. Reveles, Pharm.D., Ph.D., BCPS, and Pharm.D. candidates Lindsey Groff, B.S., William Godinez, B.S., and Ravi Gandhi, B.A.
The article details a pilot study that identified pharmacies not dispensing naloxone. Student pharmacists would go into those pharmacies, do a brief academic detailed encounter, spend approximately five minutes talking to a pharmacist, leave them a hand out about naloxone, and then conduct follow up calls to see if their responses had changed. The students found major improvement. A majority of those pharmacies were willing to dispense naloxone upon the next call.
The article is one example of the extensive efforts of Operation Naloxone, initially an on-campus organization that worked to stock residence halls with naloxone, a drug used to treat opioid overdose in an emergency situation. Its mission has expanded to provide overdose prevention and response education to students, health professionals, and community members throughout Texas to combat the opioid crisis using harm reduction strategies.