Gov. Roy Cooper said Friday the state has purchased nearly 40,000 additional units of naloxone for distribution to emergency medical technicians, anti-addiction centers and volunteer groups. He also announced at a Fayetteville treatment center that Medicaid no longer requires prior approval before physicians can prescribe another drug that reduces opioid cravings and thwarts abuse.
The two-dose naloxone units cost $3 million, paid for with a federal block grant. The medication has been credited with saving the lives of thousands of people in North Carolina who were overdosing on heroin or other opium-based drugs.