Leidos CEO Roger Krone has said the company has teamed up with the Chris Atwood Foundation and other nonprofit organizations to support their efforts to counter abuse of opioid drugs.
Krone wrote in an article published Tuesday the company’s move to partner with nonprofits is in response to a call to action by a Leidos employee who lost a son due to opioid addiction.
He cited some of the efforts the company has taken to help address the opioid epidemic and these include the plan to launch education programs in support of the Drug Enforcement Agency’s 360 Strategy, partnership with the athletic community over awareness campaigns as well as support to employee programs and forums.
“In 2017, the number of Americans who will die from drug overdose will be roughly the same as the number of Americans who died in the Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan wars combined,†noted Krone, an inductee into Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 for 2017.
WTOP reported Saturday that Leidos also donated packs of Narcan dosages to dozens of people who attended a demonstration for the drug at a church in Oakton, Virginia.
Narcan is a non-prescription drug that works to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
The Virginia legislature passed this year a law that permits nonprofit organizations to provide training on how to administer Narcan and distribute the overdose-reversal drug without prescription.