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Public Health commissioners outline broad package of DPH bills on naloxone, licensing, environmental health and technical updates
Summary
At the Public Health Committee hearing, commissioners from Mental Health & Addiction Services and Public Health presented a set of bills to expand naloxone access in schools, update recovery‑friendly statutory language, modernize licensing and change‑of‑ownership reviews, and clarify bottled‑water and environmental health rules. Committee members sought technical clarifications.
Commissioner Nancy Navaretta of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and Commissioner Manisha Jutani of the Department of Public Health delivered back‑to‑back presentations to the legislature’s Public Health Committee on a broad package of bills intended to update statutes and close technical gaps in state health law.
Navaretta opened with two items the department requested. House Bill 5515 would update school and community policies to reflect the availability of over‑the‑counter opioid antagonists, expand who may keep and administer them on school grounds, and clarify that state and community distribution programs may supply free, OTC naloxone without running afoul of permit rules. Navaretta noted Connecticut has reduced overdose deaths for four years and that the state’s distribution program dispensed roughly 80,000 kits, while reminding the committee that any overdose remains unacceptable. She also urged passage of HB5517, a housekeeping and language bill to replace stigmatizing phrases in statute — for example, using “substance use” and “opioid use disorder” rather than “abuse” or “addiction” — to reduce barriers to care and align legal language with modern clinical standards.
Commissioner Manisha Jutani summarized six DPH items, including HB5513 (various technical corrections spanning funeral‑home authority to allow appointment of licensed embalmers to protect abandoned remains; allowing certain death records to be provided electronically; authorizing electronic MOLST orders and expanding lab and monitoring coverage for PrEP/PEP), HB5510 (increasing enforcement options and fines for unlicensed health facilities), HB5512 (allowing DPH greater review of real property owners in change‑of‑ownership reviews), HB5511 (clarifying when consent orders may substitute for formal hearings), HB5518 (technical fixes to environmental health, bottled water oversight and crematorium vs alkaline hydrolysis rules), and HB5519 (certification and apprenticeship language for on‑site wastewater and water operators).
Among the follow‑up questions, lawmakers asked DPH to confirm that paper MOLST orders would still be allowed if electronic orders are adopted (Jutani: paper would remain allowed), to clarify which kinds of non‑OTC opioid antagonists would still require formal training, and to work with legislative counsel on definitions such as “person” and the scope of consent‑order authority. Committee members and both commissioners agreed to continue technical conversations with chairs and ranking members in the coming weeks.
Why it matters: Together these bills aim to remove regulatory friction points and bring statutes up to date with clinical practice and technological change while expanding access to life‑saving medicines and clarifying agency oversight. Several items — particularly the change‑of‑ownership authority and the adoption of electronic medical orders and death records — will affect many regulated providers and will require drafting tweaks before final committee action.
What’s next: Commissioners agreed to work with legislators and LCO on targeted language fixes. The committee asked for more detailed technical amendments and follow‑up meetings prior to marking up the bills.
