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Witnesses urge Ohio to require hospitals to give naloxone at discharge after overdose
Summary
Medical and addiction specialists testified in favor of Senate Bill 137, which would require hospitals to provide naloxone at discharge to patients who presented with opioid-related symptoms and seek reimbursement from insurers and Medicaid; committee held a hearing and took testimony.
Emergency medicine physicians and addiction specialists told the Ohio Senate Health Committee that Senate Bill 137 would save lives by ensuring at-risk patients leave hospitals with the opioid reversal drug naloxone.
Dr. Michael McCray, past president of the Ohio chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, recounted an emergency department case on Christmas Eve 2015 in which a 22-year-old died after overdosing while family members were briefly away. ‘‘She did not have naloxone,’’ McCray said, adding that the case led him to champion naloxone kits at his hospital and to work with the Ohio Naloxone Project.
James Neuenschwander, a board-certified physician in emergency and addiction medicine representing the Ohio Naloxone Project, told the committee that data from emergency departments show roughly 98% of naloxone prescriptions are not filled and that placing naloxone directly into patients’ hands at discharge would remove barriers such as cost, stigma and access. Neuenschwander said the bill would require hospitals to provide naloxone to patients discharged after presenting with one or more symptoms of opioid overdose, opioid use disorder or other adverse events related to opioid use, and would require insurance and Medicaid reimbursement for the drug.
Committee members pressed witnesses on unintended consequences. Senator Grover asked whether providing naloxone could be perceived as sanctioning drug use; Neuenschwander and McCray responded that naloxone is a treatment for a recognized medical disease and that distribution is intended to save lives and connect people to care.
Witnesses cited similar state laws and practices — including emergency departments in Colorado that dispense naloxone directly — and noted Ohio’s overdose death toll remains high, with witnesses testifying the state sees about 6,000 overdose deaths per year and recently moved from second to fifth in national overdose rankings. The committee accepted proponent testimony and no vote was recorded during the hearing.
The bill’s provisions discussed in testimony include hospital distribution of naloxone at discharge for qualifying patients and payer reimbursement; witnesses recommended accompanying education on use and linkage to treatment.
