The opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone is available for free at a new vending machine in Downtown Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
The machine, outside the Allegheny County Human Services building at 1 Smithfield St., will provide around-the-clock access to the medication.<\/p>\n
Naloxone \u2014 often known by its brand name Narcan \u2014 is being provided through the Allegheny County Health Department.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 24\/7 outdoor placement of the vending machine Downtown is sure to prevent deaths, as more individuals can access lifesaving medication on their own terms \u2014 especially those discouraged by retail prices or who want to remain anonymous,\u201d said Katie Wooten, the county health department\u2019s overdose prevention program manager.<\/p>\n
Following a surge of overdose deaths from 2020 to 2022, the health department distributed more than 66,000 free Narcan kits to individuals and organizations throughout the county. Overdose fatalities in the county had declined for the past three years, a trend health officials credited to the increase availability and use of naloxone.<\/p>\n
County health officials in a news release said barriers still remain, despite the progress in recent years.<\/p>\n
Some people may be discouraged from buying naloxone at pharmacies or retailers because of the stigma associated with opioid and fentanyl use. Others may be deterred by the price tag, which is often around $35 to $50 for a two-dose kit.<\/p>\n
Officials touted the outdoor vending machines as a cost-free, judgment-free way for people to obtain the lifesaving medication.<\/p>\n
The Downtown vending machine is one of several naloxone dispensers the Allegheny County Health Department has deployed using funding from the CDC\u2019s Overdose Data to Action grant.<\/p>\n
Since 2024, the county has partnered with local organizations to install wall-mounted cabinets and purple newspaper-style stands to distribute over 4,000 Narcan kits. The dispensers are in areas with high overdose rates or at sites that serve people at high risk, officials said.<\/p>\n
Naloxone also is available at no cost at various Carnegie Library locations, Focus on Renewal in McKees Rocks, Jade Wellness Center in Pittsburgh\u2019s South Side Flats, the Light of Life Rescue Mission in Pittsburgh\u2019s North Side, Onala Recover Center in Pittsburgh\u2019s South Side, Positive Pathways in Pittsburgh\u2019s West End, Tree of Life Open Bible Church in Pittsburgh\u2019s Brookline neighborhood and Veterans Place of Washington Boulevard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone is available for free at a new vending machine in Downtown Pittsburgh.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[103,61,60,371],"class_list":{"0":"post-257255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-medication"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}