Assessing pharmacists' readiness to dispense naloxone and counsel on responding to opioid overdoses.

Objectives: The United States declared the opioid crisis a Public Health Emergency in 2017 and recommended increasing access and availability of naloxone, a reversal agent for opioid overdose. In Massachusetts, there is a statewide standing order for naloxone, which allows pharmacists to dispense it without a prescription to any person at-risk of experiencing an opioid overdose or other persons who can assist individuals at-risk. The objective of this study was to determine whether pharmacists in Massachusetts have sufficient education and training to fulfill the duties associated with dispensing naloxone in community pharmacy settings.