Donations of $4,500 overdose antidote were PR gold for drug maker — but some kits were close to expiring
DUNWOODY, Ga. — Three years ago, with the opioid epidemic taking off, police officers in this affluent Atlanta suburb noticed an uptick in overdoses. Sgt. Robert Parsons rushed to equip his fellow officers with a lifesaving tool: the opioid antidote naloxone.
He stumbled across a drug company that was donating free cartons of naloxone auto-injectors to police agencies, and placed an order online. Within months, he had revived a man. But the following spring, when another batch of naloxone arrived, he was surprised to find that the injectors were set to expire in four months.
“You don’t know what you’re getting until the boxes show up,” said Parsons, the Dunwoody department’s naloxone coordinator. “You might as well begin filling out the paperwork [right away] to get them replaced.”
The drug charity program has generated a public relations windfall for Kaleo since its Evzio auto-injectors hit the market four years ago. The Virginia-based company claims to have donated more than 330,000 auto-injectors to police officers, health workers, and nonprofit groups since 2014 — saving 5,000 lives.
Company executives have traveled the country to shake hands with local officials and speak at from President Trump during a speech this spring.
