The Drug That Could Have Saved Cory Monteith And Philip Seymour Hoffman | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Health and Wellness

The Drug That Could Have Saved Cory Monteith And Philip Seymour Hoffman

This prescription drug reverses the effects of opioid overdoses.

66
The Drug That Could Have Saved Cory Monteith And Philip Seymour Hoffman
US Magazine

Cory Monteith's life came to an abrupt end on July 13, 2013, when he overdosed from a combination of alcohol and heroin. About half a year later, on January 2, 2014, Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead, with heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines, and amphetamine in his system. Their deaths could have been prevented in a various amount of options, including with what has been referred to as a "miracle drug" -- one that has brought people back from the brink of death.

Naloxone, a classified prescription medication in the United States, is used to block the effects of opioids in the body. Not only has this drug saved literally thousands of lives, naloxone itself does not have any negative effects, even if administered to someone with no opioids in their body. Because of its effectiveness, it has been consistently featured on the World Health Organization Model List of Essential Medicines. With all of its benefits, naloxone, and its role in the greater harm reduction movement needs to become more recognized.

When it comes to drugs, harm reduction acknowledges that people, despite current laws, will partake in drug activity and that it is a community's job to ensure the safety of the users. Needle exchanges are common programs within the harm reduction umbrella. While disease prevention and responsible use are often covered by activists, addressing overdoses is a necessary aspect of harm reduction as well.

Certain drugs, such as marijuana and MDMA, have little to no records about deaths caused by overdose. Unfortunately, opioids, including both prescription and street drugs, have more of a potential for abuse and overdose. Because of the lack of transparency when it comes to buying substances in the black market, users cannot fully know the concentration of what they buy (making it easy to unknowingly take a higher dose), or could be buying a drug mixed with or completely replaced by another drug. Fentanyl, for example, is being blended with heroin.

Heroin, probably the most famous street opioid, played a part in both Cory Monteith's and Philip Seymour Hoffman's deaths. As much as many of us would have preferred they had just not used this substance, it was their reality, and even with treatment, users have to experience withdrawals, making a clean recovery nearly impossible. In addition to naloxone that could have reversed any potential opioid overdose in Monteith and Hoffman, there were two other means that could have ensured their safety: 1) Not mixing substances, and 2) being in the presence of other people.

Many drugs have the potential to be dangerous, even more so when mixed with other drugs, especially alcohol. Combining drugs may make symptoms worse, or the drugs could interact in competing, and deadly, ways. When someone takes drugs in the company of another person, that other person can administer life-saving services or call 911 if there is a medical emergency. (Good Samaritan laws in certain areas will provide limited immunity from arrest in such a situation.)

While naloxone will not stop a methamphetamine or any other kind of overdose, it can aid in multiple-drug overdoses by taking care of any opioids in the system. If someone trained in administering naloxone is present while someone is dying from opioid or combination overdose, not only can they call an ambulance, but provide life-saving short-term care.

Becoming trained in giving naloxone is not only necessary for first responders, but for those who take opioids, know those who do, or praise the importance of harm reduction. We need to stop focusing on drug use prevention as the only means of drug safety and put our efforts into utilizing harm reduction techniques, such as using naloxone, if we are serious about saving lives. Too many people have perished early from opioid overdoses, and only by recognizing harm reduction, can we effectively save users from such an end.


Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
ross geller
YouTube

As college students, we are all familiar with the horror show that is course registration week. Whether you are an incoming freshman or selecting classes for your last semester, I am certain that you can relate to how traumatic this can be.

1. When course schedules are released and you have a conflict between two required classes.

Bonus points if it is more than two.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

12 Things I Learned my Freshmen Year of College

When your capability of "adulting" is put to the test

5101
friends

Whether you're commuting or dorming, your first year of college is a huge adjustment. The transition from living with parents to being on my own was an experience I couldn't have even imagined- both a good and a bad thing. Here's a personal archive of a few of the things I learned after going away for the first time.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

Economic Benefits of Higher Wages

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

303618
Illistrated image of people crowded with banners to support a cause
StableDiffusion

Raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would not only benefit workers and their families, it would also have positive impacts on the economy and society. Studies have shown that by increasing the minimum wage, poverty and inequality can be reduced by enabling workers to meet their basic needs and reducing income disparities.

I come from a low-income family. A family, like many others in the United States, which has lived paycheck to paycheck. My family and other families in my community have been trying to make ends meet by living on the minimum wage. We are proof that it doesn't work.

Keep Reading...Show less
blank paper
Allena Tapia

As an English Major in college, I have a lot of writing and especially creative writing pieces that I work on throughout the semester and sometimes, I'll find it hard to get the motivation to type a few pages and the thought process that goes behind it. These are eleven thoughts that I have as a writer while writing my stories.

Keep Reading...Show less
April Ludgate

Every college student knows and understands the struggle of forcing themselves to continue to care about school. Between the piles of homework, the hours of studying and the painfully long lectures, the desire to dropout is something that is constantly weighing on each and every one of us, but the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel helps to keep us motivated. While we are somehow managing to stay enrolled and (semi) alert, that does not mean that our inner-demons aren't telling us otherwise, and who is better to explain inner-demons than the beloved April Ludgate herself? Because of her dark-spirit and lack of filter, April has successfully been able to describe the emotional roller-coaster that is college on at least 13 different occasions and here they are.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments