Prescribing opioids and antidote at the same time to prevent overdose deaths

A growing number of states are requiring doctors to prescribe a drug overdose antidote alongside prescription opioid painkillers to try to reduce drug deaths.

Under the laws, doctors are to prescribe naloxone when they give patients a certain dose of pills for drugs such as Percocet, Vicodin, OxyContin, and Tramadol or if patients have ever overdosed before. Naloxone can come in the form of a nasal spray, known as Narcan, or an auto-injector known as Evzio.