Emergency Room Doctors Are Picking Noses — For Drug Delivery, That Is

In emergencies, administering drugs quickly and easily can be a matter of life and death. This has emergency departments turning to the nose as a delivery route because it's so accessible and doesn't require direct contact with a needle.

Using the nose as a passage for steroids like Flonase and vaccines like FluMist has been common practice for decades. In recent years, more Americans have also become aware of the emergency drug naloxone, which is used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, even when someone has stopped breathing.

The FDA naloxone in nasal spray form in late 2015. Police officers, emergency medical technicians and family members or friends can use a nasal spray version of naloxone to keep someone alive until they reach the hospital.