Could new naloxone medication help stem overdose deaths in Milwaukee?
Selahattin Kurter, executive director of West Grove Clinic, a local mental health and addiction treatment provider, says fentanyl and other synthetic opioids hitting the streets are getting stronger and stronger. He believes the increased potency of opioids is a major contributor to the record high number of overdose deaths the county has seen in recent years.
“What fentanyl and other opioids do is tell the brain to stop breathing,” said Kurter, explaining how the drugs cause overdoses. “So we need stronger counter meds during overdose that work the first time and not after repeated administration.”
His concern, he said, is that he’s hearing about more cases when multiple doses of Narcan – the brand name of the naloxone medication commonly used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose – were needed to help someone breathe again.
“That’s precious time wasted,” said Kurter, whose clinic is located at 10012 W. Capitol Drive.
Knowing that each second the brain goes without oxygen could mean the difference between life and death, Kurter sees promise in a new medication called Zimhi.
Zimhi, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in October and launched in April, is a new naloxone medication from US WorldMeds. Prefilled into a 5 mg syringe, the medication reverses overdoses faster than other drugs on the market, said Martin Brukwicki, a company rep.
A national conversation
Use of more potent substances – called opioid antagonists – to save overdose victims has become part of a national debate. The City-County Heroin, Opioid and Cocaine Task Force heard a presentation about ZIMHI in June.
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