Cost-effectiveness of naloxone distribution to public libraries

Margaret Lowenstein estimated the cost and effectiveness of naloxone distribution to prevent overdose fatalities in public libraries in Philadelphia from a city policymaker perspective. This study was among the first to examine overdose outcomes, costs and cost-effectiveness of naloxone distribution in public institutions and the first to evaluate naloxone distribution efforts in public libraries. Libraries represent an innovative model for scaling up community-based overdose prevention efforts and are a promising part of comprehensive strategies to combat the opioid crisis. The results from her pilot study inform policymakers about the best use of scarce resources to reduce overdose mortality and increase access to naloxone.

Margaret (Maggie) Lowenstein is a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics and an assistant professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine. Her research focuses on novel strategies for implementing evidence-based treatment and harm reduction interventions for opioid and other substance use disorders, including in general medical settings low-threshold care models. Lowenstein is a general internist and addiction medicine physician and currently provides addiction care at the University of Pennsylvania and on Prevention Point Philadelphia’s mobile treatment unit.