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Committee asks surgeon general to craft emergency‑use authorization rules; lawmakers press for statutory guardrails
Summary
The committee reported House Bill 6 90 as amended, asking the state's surgeon general to promulgate rules governing emergency use authorization (EUA) in Louisiana. Lawmakers and the surgeon general agreed safeguards and statutory guardrails are needed and discussed committee oversight of future rules.
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to report House Bill 6 90 as amended, a bill that would direct the state surgeon general to draft and promulgate rules governing the use of medical emergency‑use authorizations (EUAs) in Louisiana.
Representative Chuck Owen, the bill’s sponsor, said the measure asks the surgeon general to craft rules rather than send a statutory prescription from the legislature. “I’m not a physician,” Owen told the committee. “I trust the medical profession,” and therefore the bill asks the surgeon general to develop rules the legislature can later evaluate.
Ralph Abraham, Louisiana’s surgeon general, testified in support but urged that some elements belong in statute. “The only way is to put up guardrails,” Abraham said, describing EUA rule‑making as an area that requires safeguards and an ongoing legislative role. He told senators the clinical community relied on EUA authority heavily during COVID and that guardrails should instruct clinicians and protect patients.
Several senators raised legal and liability questions. Senator Leno said earlier emergency orders had created unintended legal consequences in other contexts and recommended coordination with the Louisiana Law Institute to identify statutory fixes for issues such as malpractice liability and the scope of emergency orders. Senator Presley and others urged a layered approach: allow the surgeon general to promulgate rules under the Administrative Procedure Act with required committee review and to seek statutory changes where necessary.
Committee counsel and Miss Trapp said rules would be subject to APA oversight; staff agreed to work with sponsors and counsel to add language that would provide legislative committees with an oversight path and to add legal advisers into the rule‑making process. After adoption of a technical amendment set, the committee reported House Bill 6 90 as amended. The committee recorded no objections to reporting the bill.
