The opioid overdose antidote is a prescription medication
The core idea stands, but key numbers or details have changed.
TaughtNaloxone (Narcan) can reverse an opioid overdose in minutes, but it is a medication; you get it through a pharmacist, a prescription, or a special standing order. It is not something you buy off a shelf like aspirin.
NowOn 29 March 2023 the FDA approved Narcan nasal spray for over-the-counter sale, the first naloxone product cleared for use without any prescription, clearing the way for it to be stocked in supermarkets, convenience stores, vending machines, and online.
What actually happened
The change is regulatory rather than pharmacological (the drug itself is the same one first approved decades ago) which is exactly why it counts as 'updated' and not a new discovery. What moved is access: a medication that stops an overdose only works if a bystander can have it on hand before paramedics arrive, and prescription gatekeeping was the bottleneck.
Making it a consumer product put it alongside bandages and cold medicine, and states and schools began stocking it openly. The specific thing taught, that naloxone is a prescription item you cannot simply buy, stopped being true in 2023.
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Who was taught this
Still standard through 2023, so anyone who finished school between 1950 and 2023 learned the earlier version.