An overdose-rescue medicine when on opioids and benzodiazepines
If you are prescribed both an opioid and a benzodiazepine, naloxone (an overdose rescue medicine) should be offered.
The silent should: If you are prescribed both an opioid and a benzodiazepine, naloxone (an overdose rescue medicine) should be offered.
In our analysis of de-identified U.S. psychiatric records, this step was missing 83% of the time it should have happened.
This page is information to help you ask questions — it is not medical advice, and you should never start, stop, or change a medication on your own. Bring these questions to your clinician.
Questions for your doctor the next time you see them
Copy a line and ask it — these are questions, never instructions to change treatment.
- Since I'm on an opioid and a benzodiazepine, could I be prescribed naloxone for safety?
- Can you show me and my family how to use naloxone?
This page is informational and not medical advice. It describes care patterns across a population, not your situation. Bring these questions to a clinician who knows you.
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