The
August 21st New York Times had the following
article about naloxone, a drug that can help save the lives of those who
overdose on drugs. The title of
the piece was, An Effort to Expand Access to a Drug That
Could Save Victims of Overdoses.
The complete article can be found here: http://nyti.ms/179vyXm Please give it your attention. Then consider the reaction my wife,
Margot, and I had. We wrote a
Letter to the Editor in response to the article. Unfortunately, it did not get published in the Times. Nonetheless, here is what we wrote.
“Our son, William, was a heroin addict who was saved on a
number of occasions by the swift work of emergency responders in Manhattan
using naloxone. Unfortunately, an
accidental overdose at home led to a six-week hospitalization before he
eventually succumbed to a vegetative state. Had we, his family, had appropriate training in the
administration of naloxone, with the drug available in our home, he might still
be alive today. We’ll never
know. Paul A. Werfel worries about
addicts becoming combative after being administered naloxone. A combative addict beats a dead addict
in our book every time. It’s time
for those who live with and deal with addiction on a daily basis to be combative
about the lifesaving potential of the drug. Combative enough to speed up the pace of public health
protection against the plague of addiction.”