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.
Officials in other states have negotiated rebates with California-based Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, which makes the drug. An Amphastar official did not immediately respond to a request for comment.