99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016
SB1810

 

Introduced 2/20/2015, by Sen. Terry Link

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
20 ILCS 301/5-23

    Amends the Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse and Dependency Act. Provides that the following persons shall not, as a result of their acts or omissions, be liable for civil damages under the Department of Human Services' Drug Prevention Program: (i) a health care professional who, acting in good faith, directly or by standing order, prescribes or dispenses an opioid antidote to a patient who, in the judgment of the health care professional, is capable of administering the drug in an emergency; and (ii) a person who is not otherwise licensed to administer an opioid antidote but who is permitted under the Act to administer an opioid antidote in an emergency if the person has received certain patient information and believes in good faith that another person is experiencing a drug overdose. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

SB1810LRB099 00139 KTG 20139 b

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

 

 

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

 

 

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1    treatment.
2        The Director may establish or authorize programs for
3    prescribing, dispensing, or distributing naloxone
4    hydrochloride or any other similarly acting and equally
5    safe drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
6    for the treatment of drug overdose. Such programs may
7    include the prescribing of naloxone hydrochloride or any
8    other similarly acting and equally safe drug approved by
9    the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of
10    drug overdose to and education about administration by
11    individuals who are not personally at risk of opioid
12    overdose.
13        (2) The Director may provide advice to State and local
14    officials on the growing drug overdose crisis, including
15    the prevalence of drug overdose incidents, trends in drug
16    overdose incidents, and solutions to the drug overdose
17    crisis.
18    (c) Grants.
19        (1) The Director may award grants, in accordance with
20    this subsection, to create or support local drug overdose
21    prevention, recognition, and response projects. Local
22    health departments, correctional institutions, hospitals,
23    universities, community-based organizations, and
24    faith-based organizations may apply to the Department for a
25    grant under this subsection at the time and in the manner
26    the Director prescribes.

 

 

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1        (2) In awarding grants, the Director shall consider the
2    necessity for overdose prevention projects in various
3    settings and shall encourage all grant applicants to
4    develop interventions that will be effective and viable in
5    their local areas.
6        (3) The Director shall give preference for grants to
7    proposals that, in addition to providing life-saving
8    interventions and responses, provide information to drug
9    users on how to access drug treatment or other strategies
10    for abstaining from illegal drugs. The Director shall give
11    preference to proposals that include one or more of the
12    following elements:
13            (A) Policies and projects to encourage persons,
14        including drug users, to call 911 when they witness a
15        potentially fatal drug overdose.
16            (B) Drug overdose prevention, recognition, and
17        response education projects in drug treatment centers,
18        outreach programs, and other organizations that work
19        with, or have access to, drug users and their families
20        and communities.
21            (C) Drug overdose recognition and response
22        training, including rescue breathing, in drug
23        treatment centers and for other organizations that
24        work with, or have access to, drug users and their
25        families and communities.
26            (D) The production and distribution of targeted or

 

 

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1        mass media materials on drug overdose prevention and
2        response.
3            (E) Prescription and distribution of naloxone
4        hydrochloride or any other similarly acting and
5        equally safe drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
6        Administration for the treatment of drug overdose.
7            (F) The institution of education and training
8        projects on drug overdose response and treatment for
9        emergency services and law enforcement personnel.
10            (G) A system of parent, family, and survivor
11        education and mutual support groups.
12        (4) In addition to moneys appropriated by the General
13    Assembly, the Director may seek grants from private
14    foundations, the federal government, and other sources to
15    fund the grants under this Section and to fund an
16    evaluation of the programs supported by the grants.
17    (d) Health care professional prescription of drug overdose
18treatment medication.
19        (1) A health care professional who, acting in good
20    faith, directly or by standing order, prescribes or
21    dispenses an opioid antidote to a patient who, in the
22    judgment of the health care professional, is capable of
23    administering the drug in an emergency, shall not, as a
24    result of his or her acts or omissions, be liable for civil
25    damages, and shall not, as a result of his or her acts or
26    omissions, be subject to disciplinary or other adverse

 

 

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1    action under the Medical Practice Act of 1987, the
2    Physician Assistant Practice Act of 1987, the Nurse
3    Practice Act, the Pharmacy Practice Act, or any other
4    professional licensing statute.
5        (2) A person who is not otherwise licensed to
6    administer an opioid antidote may in an emergency
7    administer without fee an opioid antidote if the person has
8    received the patient information specified in paragraph
9    (4) of this subsection and believes in good faith that
10    another person is experiencing a drug overdose. The person
11    shall not, as a result of his or her acts or omissions, be
12    liable for civil damages, and shall not, as a result of his
13    or her acts or omissions, be liable for any violation of
14    the Medical Practice Act of 1987, the Physician Assistant
15    Practice Act of 1987, the Nurse Practice Act, the Pharmacy
16    Practice Act, or any other professional licensing statute,
17    or subject to any criminal prosecution arising from or
18    related to the unauthorized practice of medicine or the
19    possession of an opioid antidote.
20        (3) A health care professional prescribing an opioid
21    antidote to a patient shall ensure that the patient
22    receives the patient information specified in paragraph
23    (4) of this subsection. Patient information may be provided
24    by the health care professional or a community-based
25    organization, substance abuse program, or other
26    organization with which the health care professional

 

 

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1    establishes a written agreement that includes a
2    description of how the organization will provide patient
3    information, how employees or volunteers providing
4    information will be trained, and standards for documenting
5    the provision of patient information to patients.
6    Provision of patient information shall be documented in the
7    patient's medical record or through similar means as
8    determined by agreement between the health care
9    professional and the organization. The Director of the
10    Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, in
11    consultation with statewide organizations representing
12    physicians, advanced practice nurses, physician
13    assistants, substance abuse programs, and other interested
14    groups, shall develop and disseminate to health care
15    professionals, community-based organizations, substance
16    abuse programs, and other organizations training materials
17    in video, electronic, or other formats to facilitate the
18    provision of such patient information.
19        (4) For the purposes of this subsection:
20        "Opioid antidote" means naloxone hydrochloride or any
21    other similarly acting and equally safe drug approved by
22    the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of
23    drug overdose.
24        "Health care professional" means a physician licensed
25    to practice medicine in all its branches, a physician
26    assistant who has been delegated the prescription or

 

 

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1    dispensation of an opioid antidote by his or her
2    supervising physician, an advanced practice registered
3    nurse who has a written collaborative agreement with a
4    collaborating physician that authorizes the prescription
5    or dispensation of an opioid antidote, or an advanced
6    practice nurse who practices in a hospital or ambulatory
7    surgical treatment center and possesses appropriate
8    clinical privileges in accordance with the Nurse Practice
9    Act.
10        "Patient" includes a person who is not at risk of
11    opioid overdose but who, in the judgment of the physician,
12    may be in a position to assist another individual during an
13    overdose and who has received patient information as
14    required in paragraph (2) of this subsection on the
15    indications for and administration of an opioid antidote.
16        "Patient information" includes information provided to
17    the patient on drug overdose prevention and recognition;
18    how to perform rescue breathing and resuscitation; opioid
19    antidote dosage and administration; the importance of
20    calling 911; care for the overdose victim after
21    administration of the overdose antidote; and other issues
22    as necessary.
23(Source: P.A. 96-361, eff. 1-1-10.)
 
24    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
25becoming law.