95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
SB2155

 

Introduced 2/14/2008, by Sen. Donne E. Trotter

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
20 ILCS 301/5-23 new
745 ILCS 49/67.5 new

    Amends the Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse and Dependency Act and the Good Samaritan Act. Provides that the Director of Human Services may publish an annual report on statewide drug overdose trends, may establish a program to provide for the publication of drug overdose prevention, recognition, and response literature, may provide advice to State and local officials concerning drug overdose problems, and may award grants to create or support local drug overdose prevention, recognition, and response projects. Provides for civil and criminal immunity for (i) any person who is not otherwise licensed to administer an opioid antagonist if he or she, acting with reasonable care, administers without fee an opioid antagonist and believes in good faith that another person is experiencing a drug overdose and (ii) a health care provider who, acting in good faith, prescribes, dispenses, or distributes an opioid antagonist to a person who, in the judgment of the health care provider, is capable of administering the drug in an emergency, and that person (A) believes in good faith that another person is experiencing a drug overdose and (B) administers the opioid antagonist to the other person. Effective January 1, 2009.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB2155 LRB095 19142 DRJ 45355 b

1     AN ACT concerning health.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse and
5 Dependency Act is amended by adding Section 5-23 as follows:
 
6     (20 ILCS 301/5-23 new)
7     Sec. 5-23. Drug Overdose Prevention Program.
8     (a)Reports of drug overdose.
9         (1) The Director may publish annually a report on drug
10     overdose trends statewide that reviews State death rates
11     from available data to ascertain changes in the causes or
12     rates of fatal and nonfatal drug overdose for the preceding
13     period of not less than 5 years. The report shall also
14     provide information on interventions that would be
15     effective in reducing the rate of fatal or nonfatal drug
16     overdose.
17         (2) The report may include:
18             (A) Trends in drug overdose death rates.
19             (B) Trends in emergency room utilization related
20         to drug overdose and the cost impact of emergency room
21         utilization.
22             (C) Trends in utilization of pre-hospital and
23         emergency services and the cost impact of emergency

 

 

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1         services utilization.
2             (D) Suggested improvements in data collection.
3             (E) A description of other interventions effective
4         in reducing the rate of fatal or nonfatal drug
5         overdose.
6     (b) Programs; drug overdose prevention.
7         (1) The Director may establish a program to provide for
8     the production and publication, in electronic and other
9     formats, of drug overdose prevention, recognition, and
10     response literature. The Director may develop and
11     disseminate curricula for use by professionals,
12     organizations, individuals, or committees interested in
13     the prevention of fatal and nonfatal drug overdose,
14     including, but not limited to, drug users, jail and prison
15     personnel, jail and prison inmates, drug treatment
16     professionals, emergency medical personnel, hospital
17     staff, families and associates of drug users, peace
18     officers, firefighters, public safety officers, needle
19     exchange program staff, and other persons. In addition to
20     information regarding drug overdose prevention,
21     recognition, and response, literature produced by the
22     Department shall stress that drug use remains illegal and
23     highly dangerous and that complete abstinence from illegal
24     drug use is the healthiest choice. The literature shall
25     provide information and resources for substance abuse
26     treatment.

 

 

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1         The Director may also establish programs for
2     prescribing, dispensing, or distributing naloxone
3     hydrochloride or any other similarly acting and equally
4     safe drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
5     for the treatment of drug overdose.
6         (2) The Director may provide advice to State and local
7     officials on the growing drug overdose crisis, including
8     the prevalence of drug overdose incidents, trends in drug
9     overdose incidents, and solutions to the drug overdose
10     crisis.
11     (c) Grants.
12         (1) The Director may award grants, in accordance with
13     this subsection, to create or support local drug overdose
14     prevention, recognition, and response projects. Local
15     health departments, correctional institutions, and
16     community-based organizations may apply to the Department
17     for a grant under this subsection at the time and in the
18     manner the Director prescribes.
19         (2) In awarding grants, the Director shall consider the
20     necessity for overdose prevention projects in various
21     settings and shall encourage all grant applicants to
22     develop interventions that will be effective and viable in
23     their local areas.
24         (3) The Director shall give preference for grants to
25     proposals that, in addition to providing life-saving
26     interventions and responses, provide information to drug

 

 

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1     users on how to access drug treatment or other strategies
2     for abstaining from illegal drugs. The Director shall give
3     preference to proposals that include one or more of the
4     following elements:
5             (A) Policies and projects to encourage persons,
6         including drug users, to call 9-1-1 when they witness a
7         potentially fatal drug overdose.
8             (B) Drug overdose prevention, recognition, and
9         response education projects in drug treatment centers,
10         outreach programs, and other organizations that work
11         with, or have access to, drug users and their families
12         and communities.
13             (C) Drug overdose recognition and response
14         training, including rescue breathing, in drug
15         treatment centers and for other organizations that
16         work with, or have access to, drug users and their
17         families and communities.
18             (D) The production and distribution of targeted or
19         mass media materials on drug overdose prevention and
20         response.
21             (E) Prescription and distribution of naloxone
22         hydrochloride or any other similarly acting and
23         equally safe drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
24         Administration for the treatment of drug overdose.
25             (F) The institution of education and training
26         projects on drug overdose response and treatment for

 

 

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1         emergency services and law enforcement personnel.
2             (G) A system of parent, family, and survivor
3         education and mutual support groups.
4         (4) In addition to moneys appropriated by the General
5     Assembly, the Director may seek grants from private
6     foundations, the federal government, and other sources to
7     fund the grants under this Section and to fund an
8     evaluation of the programs supported by the grants.
 
9     Section 10. The Good Samaritan Act is amended by adding
10 Section 67.5 as follows:
 
11     (745 ILCS 49/67.5 new)
12     Sec. 67.5. Drug overdose responders; exemption for
13 overdose response.
14     (a) Any person who is not otherwise licensed to administer
15 an opioid antagonist may, if acting with reasonable care,
16 administer without fee an opioid antagonist if the person
17 believes in good faith that another person is experiencing a
18 drug overdose. The person shall not, as a result of his or her
19 acts or omissions, except willful and wanton misconduct on the
20 part of the person in providing the aid, be (i) liable to a
21 person to whom such aid is provided for civil damages or (ii)
22 subject to criminal prosecution.
23     (b) A health care provider who, acting in good faith,
24 prescribes, dispenses, or distributes an opioid antagonist to a

 

 

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1 person who, in the judgment of the health care provider, is
2 capable of administering the drug in an emergency shall not, as
3 a result of his or her acts or omissions, except willful and
4 wanton misconduct on the part of the health care provider in
5 prescribing, dispensing, or distributing the opioid
6 antagonist, be liable to a person to whom the aid is provided
7 for civil damages or subject to criminal prosecution if the
8 person to whom the opioid antagonist is prescribed, dispensed,
9 or distributed:
10         (1) believes in good faith that another person is
11     experiencing a drug overdose; and
12         (2) administers the opioid antagonist to that other
13     person.
14     (c) For the purposes of this Section:
15     "Opioid antagonist" means naloxone hydrochloride or any
16 other similarly acting and equally safe drug approved by the
17 U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of drug
18 overdose.
19     "Health care professional" means a physician licensed to
20 practice medicine in all its branches, a physician assistant
21 who has been delegated the provision of health services by his
22 or her supervising physician, or an advanced practice
23 registered nurse who has a written collaborative agreement with
24 a collaborating physician that authorizes the provision of
25 health services.
 
26     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January

 

 

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1 1, 2009.