Heroin antidote coming to Louisville schools?

A heroin antidote could be coming to private and public high schools in Louisville this fall.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s gotten to this point," said Van Ingram, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, pointing to the "rash of overdoses in this state due to heroin and other opioids."

AdaptPharma, a pharmaceutical company based in Ireland with offices in the United States, is donating Narcan, a namebrand of naloxone, to any high school in the nation that wants the heroin and opioid antidote.

Ingram said it will be up to each Kentucky school district to decide whether to accept the kits, which include two doses of the easy-to-use nasal spray of naloxone. The focus is currently on high schools but that may expand later.

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Audrey Morrison, who has two children at St. Francis High School, said she feels it's better for schools to have it on-hand just in case.

“It can’t hurt and it might help," she said. "There’s no way it can encourage drug use. No one decides to become a drug addict. They slip into it.”

Leisa Schulz, superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Louisville, said in a statement Thursday that she had not yet received any information about the program. But she said, "We will certainly consider its adaptation in consultation with the heads of the high schools."

Jennifer Brislin, a spokeswoman for Jefferson County Public Schools, said she could not immediately comment on whether the district would participate.

"We're in the very early stages of exploring this option," she said.

Ingram joined officials with the Kentucky Department of Education, Public Health and Behavioral Health and the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services this month for a meeting with AdaptPharma representatives.

"We all agreed it's a good opportunity to provide some help to our school districts without any cost to them," Ingram said.

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Training on how to use the Narcan kits is tentatively scheduled for September at the Kentucky Department of Education's annual health coordinators' seminar, said Nancy Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the department, which oversees the state's 175 public school districts.

The sessions will be in a "train-the-trainer" model so school nurses and other health coordinators can train interested school personnel in their districts.

"Kentucky is the second state to implement it on a state level," said Thom Duddy, AdaptPharma executive director of communications. "They raised their hands and said 'We're going to take the lead.' "

Pennsylvania, home to the company's U.S. corporate headquarters, was the first and has received 675 free doses this year, he said.

This is part of an initiative through the Clinton Foundation and includes increasing education on the harms of addiction as well as access to naloxone through a grant to the National Association of School Nurses.

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"Kentucky and Pennsylvania are leaders in progressively looking at the opioid overdose crisis within their states and how to educate at all levels. Some said they didn’t have a problem and didn’t want it, while others said, ‘We have 9-1-1,’" Duddy said of some school districts in other states. "We don't want to force this, but we want to make sure the opportunity is there."

AdaptPharma also is selling the kits to law enforcement, first responders and government officials for a "public-interest price" of $75 per kit.

“The school a lot of times is the focal point of the community where a lot of activities occur,” Duddy said. “It’s now giving the opportunity to talk about overdose and prevent it.”

Reporter Beth Warren can be reached at (502) 582-7164 or bwarren@courier-journal.com.