CS for SB 544 First Engrossed
2022544e1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to drug-related overdose prevention;
3 amending s. 381.887, F.S.; revising the purpose of
4 specified provisions relating to the prescribing,
5 ordering, and dispensing of emergency opioid
6 antagonists to certain persons by authorized health
7 care practitioners; authorizing pharmacists to order
8 certain emergency opioid antagonists; providing
9 certain authorized persons immunity from civil or
10 criminal liability for administering emergency opioid
11 antagonists under certain circumstances; authorizing
12 personnel of law enforcement agencies and other
13 agencies to administer emergency opioid antagonists
14 under certain circumstances; amending s. 381.981,
15 F.S.; revising requirements for a certain health
16 awareness campaign; amending s. 395.1041, F.S.;
17 requiring hospital emergency departments and urgent
18 care centers to report incidents involving a suspected
19 or actual overdose to the Department of Health under
20 certain circumstances; providing requirements for the
21 reports; requiring hospital emergency departments and
22 urgent care centers to use their best efforts to
23 report such incidents to the department within a
24 specified timeframe; amending s. 1002.20, F.S.;
25 authorizing a public school to purchase or enter into
26 an arrangement to receive a supply of the opioid
27 antagonist naloxone for a certain purpose; specifying
28 requirements for the maintenance of the naloxone;
29 requiring the school district to adopt a protocol for
30 the administration of naloxone; providing that a
31 school district and its employees and agents and the
32 physician who provides the protocol are not liable for
33 any injury arising from the administration of the
34 naloxone pursuant to the protocol; providing an
35 exception; providing an effective date.
36
37 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
38
39 Section 1. Subsections (2), (3), and (4) of section
40 381.887, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
41 381.887 Emergency treatment for suspected opioid overdose.—
42 (2) The purpose of this section is to provide for the
43 prescribing, ordering, and dispensing prescription of emergency
44 opioid antagonists an emergency opioid antagonist to patients
45 and caregivers and to encourage the prescribing, ordering, and
46 dispensing prescription of emergency opioid antagonists by
47 authorized health care practitioners.
48 (3)(a) An authorized health care practitioner may prescribe
49 and dispense an emergency opioid antagonist to, and a pharmacist
50 may order an emergency opioid antagonist with an autoinjection
51 delivery system or intranasal application delivery system for, a
52 patient or caregiver for use in accordance with this section.,
53 and
54 (b) A pharmacist pharmacists may dispense an emergency
55 opioid antagonist pursuant to a prescription by an authorized
56 health care practitioner. A pharmacist may dispense an emergency
57 opioid antagonist with such a prescription or pursuant to a non
58 patient-specific standing order for an autoinjection delivery
59 system or intranasal application delivery system, which must be
60 appropriately labeled with instructions for use, pursuant to a
61 pharmacist’s order or pursuant to a nonpatient-specific standing
62 order.
63 (c) A such patient or caregiver is authorized to store and
64 possess approved emergency opioid antagonists and, in an
65 emergency situation when a physician is not immediately
66 available, administer the emergency opioid antagonist to a
67 person believed in good faith to be experiencing an opioid
68 overdose, regardless of whether that person has a prescription
69 for an emergency opioid antagonist.
70 (4) The following persons are authorized to possess, store,
71 and administer emergency opioid antagonists as clinically
72 indicated and are immune from any civil liability or criminal
73 liability as a result of administering an emergency opioid
74 antagonist:
75 (a) Emergency responders, including, but not limited to,
76 law enforcement officers, paramedics, and emergency medical
77 technicians.
78 (b) Crime laboratory personnel for the statewide criminal
79 analysis laboratory system as described in s. 943.32, including,
80 but not limited to, analysts, evidence intake personnel, and
81 their supervisors.
82 (c) Personnel of a law enforcement agency or other agency,
83 including, but not limited to, correctional probation officers
84 and child protective investigators who, while acting within the
85 scope or course of employment, come into contact with a
86 controlled substance or persons at risk of experiencing an
87 opioid overdose.
88 Section 2. Paragraph (r) of subsection (2) of section
89 381.981, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
90 381.981 Health awareness campaigns.—
91 (2) The awareness campaigns shall include the provision of
92 educational information about preventing, detecting, treating,
93 and curing the following diseases or conditions. Additional
94 diseases and conditions that impact the public health may be
95 added by the board of directors of the Florida Public Health
96 Institute, Inc.; however, each of the following diseases or
97 conditions must be included in an awareness campaign during at
98 least 1 month in any 24-month period:
99 (r) Substance abuse, including, but not limited to,
100 emergency opioid antagonists.
101 Section 3. Subsection (8) is added to section 395.1041,
102 Florida Statutes, to read:
103 395.1041 Access to emergency services and care.—
104 (8) REPORTING OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE OVERDOSES.—A hospital
105 emergency department or an urgent care center that treats and
106 releases a person in response to a suspected or actual overdose
107 of a controlled substance must report such incident to the
108 department if the patient was not transported by a transport
109 service operating pursuant to part III of chapter 401. Such
110 reports must be made using an appropriate method with secure
111 access, including, but not limited to, the Washington/Baltimore
112 High Intensity Drug Trafficking Overdose Detection Mapping
113 Application Program, the Florida Prehospital EMS Tracking and
114 Reporting System (EMSTARS), or another program identified by
115 department rule. If a hospital emergency department or an urgent
116 care center reports such an incident, it must use its best
117 efforts to make the report to the department within 120 hours
118 after becoming aware of the incident.
119 Section 4. Paragraph (o) is added to subsection (3) of
120 section 1002.20, Florida Statutes, to read:
121 1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.—Parents of public
122 school students must receive accurate and timely information
123 regarding their child’s academic progress and must be informed
124 of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12
125 students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory
126 rights including, but not limited to, the following:
127 (3) HEALTH ISSUES.—
128 (o) Naloxone use and supply.—
129 1. A public school may purchase a supply of the opioid
130 antagonist naloxone from a wholesale distributor as defined in
131 s. 499.003 or may enter into an arrangement with a wholesale
132 distributor or manufacturer as defined in s. 499.003 for
133 naloxone at fair-market, free, or reduced prices for use in the
134 event that a student has an opioid overdose. The naloxone must
135 be maintained in a secure location on the public school’s
136 premises. The participating school district shall adopt a
137 protocol developed by a licensed physician for the
138 administration of the drug by school personnel trained to
139 recognize an opioid overdose and to administer naloxone.
140 2. The school district and its employees and agents and the
141 physician who provides the standing protocol for school naloxone
142 are not liable for any injury arising from the use of the drug
143 if it is administered by trained school personnel who follow the
144 standing protocol and whose professional opinion is that the
145 student is having an opioid overdose:
146 a. Unless the trained school personnel’s action is willful
147 and wanton;
148 b. Notwithstanding that the parents or guardians of the
149 student to whom the naloxone is administered have not been
150 provided notice or have not signed a statement acknowledging
151 that the school district is not liable; and
152 c. Regardless of whether authorization has been given by
153 the student’s parents or guardians or by the student’s
154 physician, physician’s assistant, or advanced practice
155 registered nurse.
156 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.