OTC and Prescription Drug Abuse Slideshow Pictures Health Risks of Alcohol Abuse Slideshow Pictures

Medical Author:

Mark Zwanger, MD, MBA

Medical Editor:

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Exams and Tests

The initial diagnosis of narcotic overdose in the emergency department is made based on obtaining a history and considering the signs and symptoms that the patient is experiencing. Almost all unconscious people receive a drug called naloxone (Narcan), which is known as a narcotic antagonist because it blocks and reverses the effects of narcotics. After the initial resuscitation, opioids are easy to detect in a routine urine test. Information from friends and family or indicators such as pill bottles or drug paraphernalia may provide important clues to the emergency doctors about the person's drug use and abuse.

Information from friends and family or indicators such as pill bottles or drug paraphernalia may provide important clues to the emergency doctors about the person's drug use and abuse.