FDA Approves ‘Easy-to-Use’ Heroin Overdose Antidote

The Food and Drug Administration approved a device on Thursday that reverses the effects of overdoses from opioids, including heroin and prescription painkillers.

Called Evzio, the injection-style device administers the drug naloxone.

Naloxone has long been used in ambulances and emergency rooms to treat opioid overdoses. Now Evzio allows caregivers, family members and non-medical personnel to keep naloxone on hand, according to the FDA. The device requires a prescription.

Evzio is injected into the muscle or under the skin. When the device is turned on, verbal instructions tell the user how to deliver the medication.

Naloxone is effective because it reverses the slowed-down breathing that leads to death during an overdose, writes Douglas Throckmorton, deputy director for regulatory programs with the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a blog post.

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