New law will make overdose reversal drug more available

Gov. Brad Little has signed into law legislation aimed at reducing the number of opioid deaths in Idaho by making more readily available naloxone overdose reversal medication.

Little on Thursday signed the bill that alters wording in Idaho law to make it clear emergency responders, family members and others can administer the medication.

Language in the law being replaced led to some interpretations that allowed only a medical professional with the authority to prescribe to distribute naloxone.

Little says the new law gives Idaho one of the broadest naloxone access laws in the United States.

He says his administration is committed to fighting the scourge of opioid abuse head on.

Officials say Idaho had 116 known opioid overdose deaths in 2017, up from 44 a decade earlier.