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Committee advances bill allowing EMS to give naloxone to caregivers, members raise liability and dosing questions
Summary
Senate Bill 95, which permits EMS providers to distribute naloxone to caregivers and adds disclosure requirements, advanced unanimously but prompted questions about liability, single-dose limits and where the bill should be considered next.
Senate Bill 95, authored by Sen. Phillips Hill, was advanced unanimously from the Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness committee to the Senate floor after committee members asked questions about liability, dosing and whether the measure belongs in a health-focused committee.
Mike, a committee staff member, summarized the bill as permitting EMS providers to distribute naloxone to a caregiver of a patient who has overdosed and requiring certain cost disclosures and insurance-exchange information to be provided to prescription-drug patients. Chairman Gillan said he supported the underlying concept but cautioned that later portions of the bill touch on pharmacy posting requirements and insurer matters that might be better handled in another committee.
Representative Scott pressed staff on liability and dosing. He noted the bill’s analysis indicates an EMS provider “should not incur any liability for not stocking the dose package or not dispensing the dose package,” but asked what liability would exist if an EMS provider did dispense a dose that was expired or ineffective. “What I found is that sometimes these things, the the expiration dates, all this kind of stuff, what about the liabilities with respect to that?” Scott asked. He also noted that many contemporary street overdoses often require multiple naloxone doses and asked whether the bill contemplated more than a single dose.
Mike and other members said they had worked with the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, the Department of Health, the Department of Insurance and the Department of State and expected amendments to address dosing; committee staff said the standing order used by agencies allows for two doses to be distributed as a single package and that language would be clarified. Representative Stender urged that any changes preserve EMS providers’ existing protections under the EMS Act, so that providers would be held to a gross-negligence standard rather than ordinary negligence when decisions are reviewed.
Representative Ghent said the measure “really belongs in the Health Committee,” and Chairman Gillan acknowledged the point while supporting movement of the bill “down the assembly line” so it can be considered and possibly reallocated to other committees for subject-matter issues.
The committee recorded no negative votes and the chairman announced Senate Bill 95 moved unanimously to the Senate floor for consideration. The committee did not adopt specific amendments during this meeting; staff said amendment language on dosing and related liability points is being drafted.
