Florida Senate - 2015                              CS for SB 758
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Health Policy; and Senator Evers
       
       
       
       
       
       588-01937-15                                           2015758c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the prescription and use of opioid
    3         antagonists for emergency treatment of opioid
    4         overdoses; providing a short title; creating s.
    5         381.887, F.S.; defining terms; providing the purposes
    6         of the act; providing for the prescribing of opioid
    7         antagonists to, and the use of them by, patients and
    8         caregivers who have received emergency overdose
    9         treatment information; providing for the prescribing
   10         of opioid antagonists to, and the use of them by,
   11         first responders; providing immunities from liability;
   12         providing applicability; providing an effective date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Florida Opioid
   17  Overdose Prevention Act.”
   18         Section 2. Section 381.887, Florida Statutes, is created to
   19  read:
   20         381.887 Prescription for and dispensing of opioid
   21  antagonists.—
   22         (1)As used in this section, the term:
   23         (a)“Administer” or “administration” means to introduce an
   24  opioid antagonist into the body of a person by using a
   25  formulation approved by the United States Food and Drug
   26  Administration.
   27         (b)“Authorized health care practitioner” means a licensed
   28  practitioner authorized by the laws of this state to prescribe
   29  drugs.
   30         (c)“Caregiver” means a family member, a friend, or any
   31  other person in a position to assist a person at risk of
   32  experiencing an opioid overdose.
   33         (d)“Emergency overdose treatment information” means
   34  information regarding issues that include, but are not limited
   35  to, opioid overdose prevention and recognition, how to perform
   36  rescue breathing, opioid antagonist dosage and administration,
   37  the importance of calling 911 for assistance with an opioid
   38  overdose, and care for an overdose victim after administration
   39  of an opioid antagonist.
   40         (e)“Opioid antagonist” means naloxone hydrochloride or any
   41  similarly acting drug that blocks the effects of opioids that
   42  have been administered from outside the body and that is
   43  approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for
   44  the treatment of an opioid overdose.
   45         (f)“Patient” means a person at risk of experiencing an
   46  opioid overdose.
   47         (2)The purpose of this section is to provide for the
   48  prescription of an opioid antagonist to patients and caregivers
   49  and to encourage the administration of opioid antagonists for
   50  emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdoses when
   51  a physician or other authorized health care practitioner is not
   52  immediately available.
   53         (3)An authorized health care practitioner may prescribe an
   54  opioid antagonist for use in accordance with this section to a
   55  patient or caregiver who has received emergency overdose
   56  treatment information. A dispensing health care practitioner or
   57  pharmacist may dispense an opioid antagonist, appropriately
   58  labeled with instructions for use, pursuant to a prescription
   59  which has been issued in the name of a patient or caregiver. In
   60  order to fulfill the requirement that a patient or caregiver
   61  receive emergency overdose treatment information, such
   62  information may be provided to a patient or caregiver by the
   63  prescribing authorized health care practitioner or his or her
   64  agent. The patient or caregiver who has an opioid antagonist
   65  prescription may store and possess an approved opioid
   66  antagonist. In an emergency situation when a physician or other
   67  authorized health care practitioner is not immediately
   68  available, any patient or caregiver who has received emergency
   69  overdose treatment information may administer the opioid
   70  antagonist to a person believed in good faith to be experiencing
   71  an opioid overdose, regardless of whether that person has a
   72  prescription for an opioid antagonist.
   73         (4)An authorized health care practitioner may, directly or
   74  by standing order, prescribe and dispense opioid antagonists to
   75  first responders, as defined in s. 112.1815, and such first
   76  responders may possess, store, and administer approved opioid
   77  antagonists as prescribed and clinically indicated, and in
   78  accordance with the policies of the employer of such first
   79  responders.
   80         (5)Any person, including an authorized health care
   81  practitioner, a dispensing health care practitioner, a
   82  pharmacist, or a first responder, as defined in s. 112.1815, who
   83  possesses, administers, or stores an approved opioid antagonist
   84  in compliance with this section and with s. 768.13 is afforded
   85  the civil liability immunity protection provided under s.
   86  768.13.
   87         (6)Any authorized health care practitioner, acting in good
   88  faith and exercising reasonable care, is not subject to
   89  discipline or other adverse action under any professional
   90  licensure statute or rule and is immune from any civil or
   91  criminal liability as a result of prescribing an opioid
   92  antagonist in accordance with this section. Any dispensing
   93  healthcare practitioner or pharmacist, acting in good faith and
   94  exercising reasonable care, is not subject to discipline or
   95  other adverse action under any professional licensure statute or
   96  rule and is immune from any civil or criminal liability as a
   97  result of dispensing an opioid antagonist in accordance with
   98  this section.
   99         (7)This section does not limit any existing immunities for
  100  first responders and others provided under any other applicable
  101  statute or rule. This section does not create a duty or standard
  102  of care for a person to prescribe or administer an opioid
  103  antagonist.
  104         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.