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The Florida Senate

2018 Florida Statutes

Title XXIX PUBLIC HEALTH
Chapter 381 PUBLIC HEALTH: GENERAL PROVISIONS Entire Chapter
SECTION 887
Emergency treatment for suspected opioid overdose.
F.S. 381.887
381.887 Emergency treatment for suspected opioid overdose.—
(1) As used in this section, the term:
(a) “Administer” or “administration” means to introduce an emergency opioid antagonist into the body of a person.
(b) “Authorized health care practitioner” means a licensed practitioner authorized by the laws of this state to prescribe drugs.
(c) “Caregiver” means a family member, friend, or person in a position to have recurring contact with a person at risk of experiencing an opioid overdose.
(d) “Emergency opioid antagonist” means naloxone hydrochloride or any similarly acting drug that blocks the effects of opioids administered from outside the body and that is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of an opioid overdose.
(e) “Patient” means a person at risk of experiencing an opioid overdose.
(2) The purpose of this section is to provide for the prescription of an emergency opioid antagonist to patients and caregivers and to encourage the prescription of emergency opioid antagonists by authorized health care practitioners.
(3) An authorized health care practitioner may prescribe and dispense an emergency opioid antagonist to a patient or caregiver for use in accordance with this section, and pharmacists may dispense an emergency opioid antagonist pursuant to such a prescription or pursuant to a non-patient-specific standing order for an autoinjection delivery system or intranasal application delivery system, which must be appropriately labeled with instructions for use. Such patient or caregiver is authorized to store and possess approved emergency opioid antagonists and, in an emergency situation when a physician is not immediately available, administer the emergency opioid antagonist to a person believed in good faith to be experiencing an opioid overdose, regardless of whether that person has a prescription for an emergency opioid antagonist.
(4) The following persons are authorized to possess, store, and administer emergency opioid antagonists as clinically indicated:
(a) Emergency responders, including, but not limited to, law enforcement officers, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians.
(b) Crime laboratory personnel for the statewide criminal analysis laboratory system as described in s. 943.32, including, but not limited to, analysts, evidence intake personnel, and their supervisors.
(5) A person, including, but not limited to, an authorized health care practitioner, a dispensing health care practitioner, or a pharmacist, who possesses, administers, prescribes, dispenses, or stores an approved emergency opioid antagonist in compliance with this section and s. 768.13 is afforded the civil liability immunity protections provided under s. 768.13.
(6)(a) An authorized health care practitioner, acting in good faith and exercising reasonable care, is not subject to discipline or other adverse action under any professional licensure statute or rule and is immune from any civil or criminal liability as a result of prescribing an emergency opioid antagonist in accordance with this section.
(b) A dispensing health care practitioner or pharmacist, acting in good faith and exercising reasonable care, is not subject to discipline or other adverse action under any professional licensure statute or rule and is immune from any civil or criminal liability as a result of dispensing an emergency opioid antagonist in accordance with this section.
(7) This section does not limit any existing immunities for emergency responders or other persons which are provided under this chapter or any other applicable provision of law. This section does not create a duty or standard of care for a person to prescribe or administer an emergency opioid antagonist.
History.—s. 2, ch. 2015-123; s. 1, ch. 2016-145; s. 1, ch. 2017-107.