Cummings calls for lower overdose antidote prices

(AP) – Rep. Elijah Cummings is calling on Maryland leaders to negotiate lower prices for a heroin overdose antidote to ensure first responders have the drug at hand when they need it.

In a letter to Gov. Larry Hogan, Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford and Attorney General Brian Frosh on Tuesday, Cummings writes that prices for naloxone, a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses, have skyrocketed in recent months and he believes the state is being overcharged. Cummings, a Democrat, writes that the spike coincides with an increase in heroin overdose deaths and he urges them to negotiate lower prices for the drug.

Shareese DeLeaver-Churchill, Hogan’s press secretary, said in an email Tuesday that the administration will approach the manufacturer to see if something can be done about naloxone’s rising cost.