It’s been practically 5 years since Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs died of an unintentional overdose of oxycodone capsules laced with fentanyl in a Texas resort room. But the influence of the tragedy and revelations in the course of the ensuing trial of Angels worker Eric Kay that Skaggs and several other different gamers had been provided with opioids continues to be being felt.
Main League Baseball introduced this week that its emergency medical procedures now require that naloxone be saved in clubhouses, weight rooms, dugouts and umpire dressing rooms in any respect main league and minor league ballparks. Additionally, all licensed athletic trainers will likely be geared up with naloxone when groups journey.
Naloxone, additionally recognized by the model title Narcan, is an antidote for opioid poisoning. Most frequently administered as a nasal spray, naloxone finds and replaces opioid receptors, binding stronger than the opioid and successfully blocking it.
The partnership is a part of an initiative launched final yr by the White Home known as Problem to Save Lives from Overdose.
“We’re pleased with the efforts throughout @MLB to avoid wasting lives by committing to rising coaching on and entry to lifesaving opioid overdose reversal drugs, like naloxone, and by supporting organizations like @SongforCharlie. @PBATS,” MLB vice chairman of communications Mike Teevan posted on X.com.
A marketing campaign focusing on followers will likely be launched on the All-Star Recreation in July and MLB has partnered with a nonprofit that makes an attempt to lift consciousness amongst teenagers and younger adults about capsules that unexpectedly embrace lethal fentanyl.
Skaggs’ loss of life prompted MLB to start testing for medicine of abuse, and as many as 12,000 checks are administered every year. Solely gamers who decline therapy are topic to self-discipline, though optimistic checks for opioids haven’t been prevalent, in response to Jon Coyles, MLB vice chairman of drug well being and security.
The initiative has been criticized on social media as a public relations stunt as a result of it’s unclear whether or not anybody related to an MLB workforce has had naloxone administered throughout an overdose. Coyles, nevertheless, pushed again, saying addressing opioid habit and overdoses is a crucial public well being subject worthy of MLB’s efforts.
“Our deal with naloxone in our trade will hopefully, simply due to the public-facing nature of baseball, assist with the general public consciousness and contribute to the nationwide dialog on this,” Coyles advised Sports activities Illustrated.
MLB is just one of many members within the White Home Problem to Save Lives from Overdose. The Los Angeles Unified Faculty District, for instance, shares naloxone in any respect Ok-12 faculties and has skilled healthcare workers on administering it. College students are allowed to hold naloxone, and LAUSD says the drug has been used to avoid wasting about 50 lives since January 2023.
The overdose-reversal drug Narcan is displayed throughout coaching for workers of the Public Well being Administration Company. The U.S. Meals and Drug Administration permitted promoting overdose antidote naloxone over-the-counter March 29, 2023.
(Matt Rourke / Related Press)
It’s tough to say whether or not naloxone might have saved Skaggs’ life. He was alone in his resort room when he chopped and snorted what he believed to be oxycodone capsules offered to him by Kay, a longtime Angels media relations worker who at trial admitted to his personal opioid habit.
Kay was convicted of distributing fentanyl by a Texas jury in 2022 and is serving a 22-year jail sentence. Throughout his trial, 4 Angels gamers — Matt Harvey, Mike Morin, Cam Bedrosian and C.J. Cron — took the stand and described opioid use going down after they performed for the workforce. They mentioned the illicit 30-milligram oxycodone capsules had been known as “blue boys” by gamers due to their coloration.
Harvey testified that Skaggs requested him for capsules in June 2019 as a result of he wished to really feel “loosey-goosey” earlier than a begin and mentioned Skaggs advised him he as soon as crushed an oxycodone capsule and snorted it on a rest room paper dispenser within the Angels’ clubhouse.
Kay’s lawyer Michael Molfetta requested Harvey if he ever requested Skaggs to watch out.
“Trying again, I want I had,” Harvey mentioned. “In baseball, you do all the things you possibly can to remain on the sphere. On the time, I felt as a teammate I used to be simply serving to him get via no matter he wanted to get via.”
