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House passes bill requiring drug testing and reporting after mass-shooting autopsies
Summary
House Bill 1349 requires medical examiners to test decedents in mass shootings for psychotropic drugs, to consult treating providers and to submit data for a study. The House approved the bill 76-20 with one present but not voting.
The Tennessee House on Friday passed House Bill 1349, a measure requiring county medical examiners or regional forensic centers to test decedents in mass shootings for the presence of psychotropic and other drugs, to consult treating mental-health professionals and to provide limited results for study and reporting.
Sponsor Chair Jolene Littleton described the bill as targeting incidents in which a decedent is suspected of committing a mass shooting that resulted in four or more deaths. Under the bill, the medical examiner or forensic center must test a blood sample for drugs, consult the decedent’s treating mental-health professional and primary care physician where known, and disclose drug-use findings to the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Pharmacy and the Department of Health for a study of drug interactions and effects.
“Will we be able as members to access that data?” Representative Towns asked; Chair Littleton said the bill requires quarterly reports and that the data obtained would be reported to the chief clerks of the House and Senate when there is material to report.
Opponents cautioned about shifting focus from firearms to medications in mass-shooting causation. Representative Freeman said, “We have a gun issue. That’s the problem. It’s not a psychotropic drug issue.” Supporters said the measure would add useful data to an unresolved and complex question about the role of prescription drugs in certain violent incidents.
Representative Littleton said the statute applies only to decedents who committed mass killings and that it requires a blood sample to be sent to the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy for analysis; she said the measure anticipates quarterly reporting of aggregated results to the legislature.
The House adopted the bill on a recorded vote of 76 ayes, 20 nays and 1 present (not voting). Chair Littleton said the intent was to gather information that could inform policy and public-health responses if patterns emerged from the data.
