Premise Health and American Airlines Participate in White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose Event

Premise Health’s Natasha Narayan, MD, MPH, alongside Monica Chinn, director of government affairs for policy at American Airlines, participated in the inaugural White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose event on October 8. The event brought together leaders from across the country who have committed to ensuring preventable deaths are avoided. 

Hosted by the White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC) and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the event honored nearly 250 organizations across the nation and their commitment to addressing the opioid overdose epidemic, a key pillar of the Biden administration’s Unity Agenda for the Nation. 

Dr. Narayan, who serves as corporate medical director for American, and Chinn were joined by ONDCP Director Dr. Rahul Gupta, MD, MPH, FACP, MBA, senior White House officials, and other organizational leaders to discuss current initiatives, their impact, and importance within their respective industry and community. The roundtable discussion allowed organizations to highlight effective policies and efforts that expand community access to lifesaving opioid overdose reversal medication and reduce preventable drug overdose deaths. 

American and Dr. Narayan have been strong advocates for combatting the opioid crisis by making Narcan more readily accessible in flight, and through their efforts, American became the first U.S. carrier to implement policies across its fleet.  

While American has had Narcan onboard since 2018, once the overdose prevention method became an over-the-counter medication in 2023, the airline worked with Dr. Narayan to ensure proper training was provided to administer the reversal medication safely. American’s flight attendants have undergone training and now have updated procedures that provide step-by-step instructions on how to administer Narcan in the rare event there is no medical assistance readily available onboard.