(WNY News Now) – ALBANY, N.Y. – The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) this week reissued its non-patient specific standing order allowing pharmacists to dispense naloxone to any New Yorker who visits a pharmacy and asks for it. The standing order renews a previous two-year order of identical purpose and remains in effect for the next two years, until February 2026.
“The members of the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York (PSSNY) are honored and grateful that New York has once again acknowledged pharmacists’ role in carrying out a critical public health initiative,” said Leigh McConchie, RPH, president of PSSNY. “New Yorkers from Buffalo to Bay Shore and from Staten Island to Plattsburgh, can trust that when they are in need of life-saving naloxone and any other approved scope of vital pharmaceutical care, New York pharmacists will be there to answer their need and provide medications critical to their life, health and well-being.”
The order signed by NYSDOH Commissioner James McDonald states that “for more than 15 years, non-medical persons in New York state have successfully administered this medication on friends, family members and complete strangers averting disability and loss of life.” The order applies to any person who requests naloxone, including individuals who are at risk of experiencing an opioid overdose, family members, friends and others in a position to assist an individual who is at risk of experiencing an opioid overdose. The order also applies to adolescent patients under the age of 18 if, in the opinion of the pharmacist, there are circumstances in which the minor will be positioned to save a life by administering naloxone.
Crucially, pharmacist-initiated dispensing of naloxone is also covered under the standing order, so that trained certified pharmacists may identify and recommend naloxone for patients who may eventually require it.
About the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York:
The Pharmacists Society of the State of New York (PSSNY) has served as the society for the state’s pharmacists for more than 138 years providing advocacy and resources to pharmacists to improve patient care. To learn more about PSSNY, visit www.PSSNY.org.
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