Vending Machine Dispenses Free Narcan At Kaiser In Marin

SAN RAFAEL, CA — In a first for Kaiser Permanente, a Narcan dispensing machine was installed at a Marin County medical office.

Narcan — a nasal spray that can be used to save victims from an opioid overdose — can now be obtained by members of the public for free from the vending machine in Kaiser Permanente's San Rafael Park Medical Office, 1650 Los Gamos Drive.

The vending machine is part of an effort to decrease fatal overdoses by increasing access to the life-saving nasal spray, according to Kaiser Permanente.

Marin County on average sees one fatal overdose each week and and two non-fatal overdoses every day, according to Dr. Laura Eberhard, Kaiser Permanente assistant chief of staff in San Rafael.

Once final numbers are calculated, the number of fatal overdoses in 2023 in Marin County is projected to hit 65 — up from 30 in 2018. The victims continue to be overwhelmingly white (81 percent) and male (71 percent), according to county officials.

Following a cluster of five fatal overdose deaths in Marin County in February and a corresponding spike in fentanyl and methamphetamine found in area wastewater, the county issued its first public alert for higher than usual risk of overdose deaths.

"These deaths are largely preventable," Eberhard said ."We feel it is important to visibly and clearly show our commitment to save lives by making Narcan free to our patients and anyone in the community."

Overdose is the leading cause of death in people under age 55 in Marin County, according to Dr. Reed Kalna, outpatient pharmacy director at the San Rafael Medical Center who was instrumental in getting the vending machine placed in the medical office.

"We hope the vending machine reduces the stigma involved in having to ask for Narcan at the pharmacy or in the emergency room," Kalna said. "And by reducing stigma we will increase access."

In addition to free Narcan from the vending machine, Narcan is available with a prescription from a Kaiser Permanente physician or over the counter at pharmacies for $45. It is also free in emergency rooms at all 21 medical centers in Northern California.

The Kaiser Permanente Narcan vending machine is the sixth machine placed in a public space around Marin County, and more than 1,000 Narcan kits are dispensed each month through the machines. The machines have scannable instructions on how to use Narcan during an overdose, and the packages have instructions inside.

Similar free machines could be placed in other Kaiser Permanente medical office buildings in Marin County and other Northern California locations if the vending machine is well used, Kalna said.

Kaiser Permanente partnered with OD Free Marin, a coalition of county groups working to reduce deaths, to place the machine in the Kaiser Permanente medical office. It was paid for with state opioid lawsuit settlement funds. The Narcan is paid for by the state of California and is procured by OD Free Marin.

"Anyone can walk in and take a package of Narcan," Kalna said. "They don’t have to be a Kaiser Permanente member. It’s a free vending machine, and the government pays for it."

Read more from Kaiserpermanente.com.