Emergency Medicine

In 2021, opioid overdose deaths exceeded 80 000 in the US.1 Naloxone, a competitive opioid receptor antagonist that reverses symptoms of opioid intoxication and overdose by displacing opioids from μ-opioid receptors, is a safe and effective medication for preventing opioid overdose death. Naloxone meets US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) criteria for approval without a prescription: its benefits outweigh risks, it treats a condition that can be identified by people in the community, it has a low potential for misuse, and it can be labeled to facilitate correct administration.