We have tools to solve the opioid crisis – so why aren’t they used?

Early in August, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a sixth medication for reversing opioid overdoses. The product, call Zurnai, is an automatic injection of the drug nalmefene, produced by Purdue Pharma – the same pharmaceutical company that helped fuel the opioid crisis.

Irony aside, this is – at least at face value – a welcome addition to the growing arsenal of medications meant to combat the opioid crisis. Nalmefene is stronger and has a longer duration than its more common counterpart naloxone, which has become less effective against an…