buffalonews.com
June 11, 2025
Editorial
Allow paramedics in state to administer withdrawel management drugs to patients providing all the tools that can save lives should be a number one priority in the fight against overdoses and addiction.
To that end, state legislators should not hesitate to back a bill introduced by Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, D-Manhattan, that would allow New York to establish a program to approve paramedics carrying drugs such as Suboxone, used for opioid withdrawel management.
Rosenthal’s bill does not have a sponsor in the Senate. It should.
Dr. Joshua Lynch, a nationally recognized expert on addiction, recently testified before the Assembly Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. The hearing focused on the prevalence of additives to synthetic opioids in the state.
Lynch is a senior physician with UBMD Emergency Medicine. He said paramedics in New York cannot carry or administer Suboxone, even though it was sanctioned in 2023 by the State Emergency Medical Services Council, the entities that establish the state’s emergency medical service protocol.
It’s hard to imagine these professionals are prevented from carrying something that could help atrisk patients with training programs available for its proper use. Yet, despite the nationwide focus on preventing opioid deaths, Suboxone is being denied rescuers.
Lynch said that he has repeatedly called for the state to allow paramedics to use Suboxone or the similar drug, buprenorphine, in responding to emergency calls. While these drugs do not reverse overdoses in the way that naloxone – sold as Narcan – does, it serves an important purpose by decreasing cravings for opioids, blocking their effect and suppressing withdrawel symptoms, as the legislation from Rosenthal indicates.
New York could always look to other states that have passed laws allowing paramedics to carry Suboxone and buprenorphine for best practices. And legislators should learn from the example of New Jersey, which made the law too restrictive by requiring paramedics to use the drugs only after naloxone was used beforehand.
Assembly Member Phil Steck, D-Colonie, who chairs the committee and led the hearing, made clear his concern around contaminants that are being added to today’s drugs by illlegal cartels. Some of them include xylazine, a non-narcotic veterinary tranquilizer, and medetomidine, a non-opioid sedative.
No reversal agents exist for the contaminants currently making their way through the illegal market. There is education around the effects of these drugs, but more is needed. Today’s war on addition and its deadly consequences is complicated.
Martin Ping, A Columbia County grandfather, told his family’s horror story involving substance abused and social media. Sixteen-year-old Avery Ping died in December after accidentally overdosing on drugs that the teenager purchased on Snapchat.
The elder Ping also wants legislators to hold social media companies accountable through legislation.
Combating substance abuse and its often fatal effects is a multifaceted effort, and legislation must be centered around keeping up with recent developments. When trained medical personnel ask to be able to carry and administer Suboxone, they should be heard and supported.