Emergency naloxone for heroin overdose: Beware of naloxone's other characteristics

In the same issue of the BMJ Ian Roberts, an epidemiologist, warns that anecdotal evidence could be highly misleading, citing the use of albumin in resuscitation and steroids in head injury. 2 Richard Lehman opines that in the current political climate it would take considerable optimism to expect that health policy might be governed by evidence alone. 3 Our professional leadership must urgently mark out where the evidence lies. 3 Although it may be reasonable to research the wider availability of naloxone, we need to understand the overall clinical effect, addressing the negative as well as the positive effects of such a change before adding to the illicit drug cocktail available on the street.