U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Improving Access to Overdose Treatment

Improving Access to Overdose Treatment (OD Treatment Access) seeks to expand access to Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs or devices for emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose. The recipients will partner with other prescribers at the community level to develop best practices for prescribing and co-prescribing FDA-approved overdose reversal drugs. After developing best practices, the recipients will train other prescribers in key community sectors as well as individuals who support persons at high risk for overdose.

OD Treatment Access grant funds must be used primarily to support the following activities:

• Establish a program for prescribing a drug or device approved or cleared under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose.
• Train and provide resources for health care providers and pharmacists on the prescribing of drugs or devices approved or cleared under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose.
• Establish protocols to connect patients who have experienced a drug overdose with appropriate treatment, including medication-assisted treatment, and appropriate counseling and behavioral therapies.
• Develop a plan for sustaining the program after federal support for the program has ended.
• Use SAMHSA’s Opioid Overdose Prevention Toolkit as a guide to develop and implement a comprehensive prevention program to reduce the number of prescription drug/opioid overdose-related deaths and adverse events among cases of known or suspected opioid overdose.
• Address overdose by patients on prescribed opioids. Attention should be given to potential drug interactions, reduction in dose, and evaluation for other substance issues such as alcohol use disorders.

No more than 20 percent of the grant award may be used for the following:

• Purchase drugs or devices approved or cleared under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose, for distribution under the program
• Offset the co-payments and other cost sharing associated with drugs or devices approved or cleared under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose

The OD Treatment Access grant may also support the following types of activities:

• Collaboration with healthcare providers and pharmacists to educate them on overdose dangers and standing orders for FDA-approved overdose reversal drugs to patients and individuals who support persons at high-risk for overdose.
• Collaboration with pharmacies to distribute drugs or devices approved or cleared under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for emergency treatment of public education on the state’s “Good Samaritan” laws related to a drug overdose, if applicable, such as those that permit bystanders to alert emergency responders to an overdose or to administer drugs or devices approved or cleared under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdse without fear of civil or criminal penalties.

Amount: A total of $940,000 is available top make up to five awards of up to $200,000 per year for up to five years.

Eligibility: Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), opioid treatment programs, and practitioners dispensing narcotic drugs.

Link: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=298779

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