You can now get an injectable form of naloxone without a prescription in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvanians looking to protect themselves and others from an overdose can now obtain without a prescription a form of the overdose-reversal drug naloxone administered by a shot into the muscles, state officials said Wednesday.

Pennsylvania Acting Secretary of Health Denise Johnson is expanding a standing order to allow people to obtain naloxone in the form of prefilled syringe injections — sold under the brand name ZIMHI — which can reverse the deadly effects of an accidental opioid overdose.

Those interested in obtaining naloxone can get the drug for free through NextDistro or by presenting a copy of the standing order at a local pharmacy. No prescription is needed.

In 2014, Rachel Levine, then the state health secretary, signed a standing order that enabled people to get another form of naloxone, administered as a nasal spray, from pharmacies without a prescription.

Widespread naloxone distribution has become a crucial tool across the country as the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl has contaminated the drug supply, and health departments struggle to contain opioid overdose deaths.

» READ MORE: Struggling with an addiction, or know someone who is? Here are ways to get help.

The move gives people struggling with addiction — and those who care about them — another option as opioid crisis claims more lives than ever. Last year, 5,319 people died of opioid overdoses in the state, and the Philadelphia region’s 1,214 deaths in 2020 made it among the nation’s deadliest major metro areas.

Philadelphia has not released finalized overdose numbers for 2021, but according to preliminary data from the state, which tallies deaths from every county, Philadelphia saw at least 1,274 deaths in 2021, the city’s highest count on record.

That number will likely be higher when the count is completed.

Pennsylvania residents interested in learning how to use ZIMHI can make an account and watch a video at TrainPA.

» READ MORE: Philadelphians who died of a drug overdose often had sought help for addiction, report finds