Santa Monica Police credit the controversial drug Naloxone with saving the life of a woman in Virginia Avenue Park.
SMPD responded to a call of an overdose at 2200 Virginia Avenue shortly after 6:00 PM on Sunday.
The unnamed victim had been consuming Oxycodone at home and was being transported to a local hospital by her boyfriend when her condition began to deteriorate.
The boyfriend pulled over at the park and called 911.
“Officers noticed the victim was pale, unconscious, and non-responsive,” an SMPD statement said. “They retrieved their Naloxone (also known as Narcan) kit and administered it to the victim intranasally. The victim responded positively and was subsequently transported to a local hospital for treatment.”
Naloxone is an easy to use, often life-saving medication that is designed to quickly reverse the effects of an overdose from heroin or other opioids, including morphine, methadone and codeine.
It has been used more than 14 times by SMPD since January 2019.
While credited with saving many lives, Naloxine has drawn some criticism in recent years.
A 2018 research paper titled The Moral Hazard of Lifesaving Innovations by Jennifer L. Doleac (Texas A&M University) and Anita Mukherjee (Wisconsin School of Business) seemed to blame Naloxone for contributing to irresponsible drug use.
“Naloxone access may unintentionally increase opioid abuse through two channels: (1) saving the lives of active drug users, who continue abusing opioids, and (2) reducing the risk per use, thereby making riskier opioid use more appealing,” the authors wrote. “By increasing the number of opioid users who need to fund their drug purchases, Naloxone laws may also increase theft.”
