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In response to the opioid epidemic, policies to expand access to the overdose-reversal drug naloxone have emerged across the country. In recent years, Arkansas has made progress on this front by requiring prescribers in 2021 to co-prescribe naloxone in certain situations, such as when an individual has a high-dose opioid prescription. In 2017, licensed pharmacists became authorized to order, dispense, and administer naloxone to individuals without a prescription under a state protocol.
For the third year since 2020, the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement analyzed the naloxone and opioid prescriptions for Medicaid and commercially insured beneficiaries to inform and understand the trends and patterns of naloxone prescriptions in Arkansas. Data for the analysis were from the Arkansas All-Payer Claims Database, part of the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative, for state fiscal years (FY) 2017 to 2021. The results of our analyses are contained in an updated data brief.