Narcan

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved selling naloxone over the counter.

The drug would be the first opioid treatment drug to be sold without a prescription.

In New York State, residents can already obtain Narcan from a pharmacy without a prescription thanks to a standing prescription order from the State Department of Health.

The drug can reverse overdoses of opioids, including street drugs such as heroin and fentanyl and prescription versions including oxycodone.

The FDA sees making naloxone available more widely as a key strategy to control the nationwide overdose crisis, which has been linked to more than 100,000 U.S. deaths a year

Emergent BioSolutions, the company that makes Narcan, said they expect the drug will become available over-the-counter by late summer. Other brands of naloxone and injectable forms will not yet be available over the counter, but they could be soon.

Several manufacturers of generic naloxone that’s made similarly to Narcan will now be required to file applications to switch their drugs over the counter as part of a requirement by the FDA.