Florida Senate - 2017                              CS for SB 588
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Health Policy; and Senator Passidomo
       
       
       
       
       
       588-02962-17                                           2017588c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to drug overdoses; providing
    3         legislative findings and intent; creating s. 401.253,
    4         F.S.; authorizing certain entities to report
    5         controlled substance overdoses to the Department of
    6         Health; defining the term “overdose”; providing
    7         requirements for such reports; providing immunity for
    8         persons who make reports in good faith; providing that
    9         a failure to report is not a basis for licensure
   10         discipline; requiring the department to produce a
   11         quarterly report and share the data with specified
   12         entities; providing for use of such data; providing an
   13         effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. (1)The Legislature finds that substance abuse
   18  and drug overdose are major health problems that affect the
   19  lives of many people and multiple service systems and that lead
   20  to such profoundly disturbing consequences as permanent injury
   21  or death. Heroin, opiates, illegal drugs, and accidental
   22  overdoses are a crisis and stress the financial, health care,
   23  and public safety resources because there are no central
   24  databases that can quickly help address this problem. Quick data
   25  collection will allow all agencies to focus on specific age
   26  groups, areas, criminal behavior, and needed public education
   27  and prevention with the maximum utilization of resources.
   28  Further, it is the intent of the Legislature to require the
   29  collaboration of local, regional, and state agencies, service
   30  systems, and program offices to address the needs of the public;
   31  to establish a comprehensive system addressing the problems
   32  associated with drug overdoses; and to reduce duplicative
   33  requirements across local, county, state, and health care
   34  agencies.
   35         (2)It is the goal of the Legislature in this act to:
   36         (a)Discourage substance abuse and accidental or
   37  intentional overdoses by quickly identifying the type of drug
   38  involved, whether prescription or illegal, the age of the
   39  individual involved, and the areas where drug overdoses pose a
   40  potential risk to the public, schools, workplaces, and
   41  communities.
   42         (b)Provide a central data point so that data can be shared
   43  between the health care community and municipal, county, and
   44  state agencies to quickly identify needs and provide short- and
   45  long-term solutions while protecting and respecting the rights
   46  of individuals.
   47         (3)It is the intent of the Legislature in this act to
   48  maximize:
   49         (a)The efficiency of financial, public education, health
   50  professional, and public safety resources so that these
   51  resources may be concentrated on areas and groups in need.
   52         (b)The utilization of funding programs for the
   53  dissemination of available federal, state, and private funds
   54  through contractual agreements with licensed basic life support
   55  service providers, advanced life support service providers,
   56  community-based organizations, or units of state or local
   57  government that deliver local substance abuse services in
   58  accordance with the intent of this act and s. 397.321(4),
   59  Florida Statutes.
   60         Section 2. Section 401.253, Florida Statutes, is created to
   61  read:
   62         401.253Reporting of controlled substance overdoses.—
   63         (1)(a)A basic life support service or advanced life
   64  support service that treats and releases, or transports to a
   65  medical facility, a person in response to an emergency call for
   66  a suspected or actual overdose of a controlled substance may
   67  report such incidents to the department. Such reports must be
   68  made using the Emergency Medical Services Tracking and Reporting
   69  System, or other appropriate method with secure access,
   70  including, but not limited to, the Washington/Baltimore High
   71  Intensity Drug Trafficking Area’s Overdose Detection Mapping
   72  Application Program or other program identified by the
   73  department in rule. If a basic life support service or advanced
   74  life support service reports such incidents, it shall use best
   75  efforts to make the report to the department within 120 hours.
   76         (b)The data collected by the department shall be made
   77  available within 120 hours to law enforcement, public health,
   78  fire rescue, and emergency medical service agencies in each
   79  county.
   80         (c)For purposes of this section, the term “overdose” means
   81  a condition, including, but not limited to, extreme physical
   82  illness, decreased level of consciousness, respiratory
   83  depression, coma, or death resulting from the consumption or use
   84  of any controlled substance which requires medical attention,
   85  assistance, or treatment, or clinical suspicion for drug
   86  overdose, such as respiratory depression, unconsciousness, or
   87  altered mental status, without other conditions to explain the
   88  clinical condition.
   89         (2)(a)A report of an overdose of a controlled substance
   90  under this section must include:
   91         1.The date and time of overdose.
   92         2.The approximate address of where the person was picked
   93  up or where the overdose took place.
   94         3.Whether an emergency opioid antagonist, as defined in s.
   95  381.887, was administered.
   96         4.Whether the overdose was fatal or nonfatal.
   97         (b)A report of an overdose of a controlled substance under
   98  this section must also include, if the reporting mechanism
   99  permits:
  100         1.The gender and approximate age of the person receiving
  101  attention or treatment.
  102         2.The suspected controlled substance involved in the
  103  overdose.
  104         (3)A basic life support service or advanced life support
  105  service that reports information to or from the department
  106  pursuant to this section in good faith is not subject to civil
  107  or criminal liability for making the report.
  108         (4)Failure to report an overdose under this section is not
  109  grounds for disciplinary action or penalties pursuant to s.
  110  401.411(1)(a).
  111         (5)The department shall produce a quarterly report to the
  112  Statewide Drug Policy Advisory Council, the Department of
  113  Children and Families, and the Florida Fusion Center summarizing
  114  the raw data received pursuant to this section. Such reports
  115  shall also be made immediately available to the county-level
  116  agencies described in paragraph (1)(b). The Statewide Drug
  117  Policy Advisory Council, the Department of Children and
  118  Families, and the department may use these reports to maximize
  119  the utilization of funding programs for licensed basic life
  120  support service providers or advanced life support service
  121  providers, and for the dissemination of available federal,
  122  state, and private funds for local substance abuse services in
  123  accordance with s. 397.321(4).
  124         Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2017.