Florida Senate - 2022 CS for SB 544 By the Committee on Appropriations; and Senator Boyd 576-02399-22 2022544c1 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; providing an effective date. 25 26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 27 28 Section 1.Subsections (2), (3), and (4) of section 29 381.887, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 30 381.887Emergency treatment for suspected opioid overdose. 31 (2)The purpose of this section is to provide for the 32 prescribing, ordering, and dispensing prescription of emergency 33 opioid antagonists an emergency opioid antagonist to patients 34 and caregivers and to encourage the prescribing, ordering, and 35 dispensing prescription of emergency opioid antagonists by 36 authorized health care practitioners. 37 (3)(a)An authorized health care practitioner may prescribe 38 and dispense an emergency opioid antagonist to, and a pharmacist 39 may order an emergency opioid antagonist with an autoinjection 40 delivery system or intranasal application delivery system for, a 41 patient or caregiver for use in accordance with this section., 42 and 43 (b)A pharmacist pharmacists may dispense an emergency 44 opioid antagonist pursuant to a prescription by an authorized 45 health care practitioner. A pharmacist may dispense an emergency 46 opioid antagonist with such a prescription or pursuant to a non 47 patient-specific standing order for an autoinjection delivery 48 system or intranasal application delivery system, which must be 49 appropriately labeled with instructions for use, pursuant to a 50 pharmacists order or pursuant to a nonpatient-specific standing 51 order. 52 (c)A such patient or caregiver is authorized to store and 53 possess approved emergency opioid antagonists and, in an 54 emergency situation when a physician is not immediately 55 available, administer the emergency opioid antagonist to a 56 person believed in good faith to be experiencing an opioid 57 overdose, regardless of whether that person has a prescription 58 for an emergency opioid antagonist. 59 (4)The following persons are authorized to possess, store, 60 and administer emergency opioid antagonists as clinically 61 indicated and are immune from any civil liability or criminal 62 liability as a result of administering an emergency opioid 63 antagonist: 64 (a)Emergency responders, including, but not limited to, 65 law enforcement officers, paramedics, and emergency medical 66 technicians. 67 (b)Crime laboratory personnel for the statewide criminal 68 analysis laboratory system as described in s. 943.32, including, 69 but not limited to, analysts, evidence intake personnel, and 70 their supervisors. 71 (c)Personnel of a law enforcement agency or other agency, 72 including, but not limited to, correctional probation officers 73 and child protective investigators who, while acting within the 74 scope or course of employment, come into contact with a 75 controlled substance or persons at risk of experiencing an 76 opioid overdose. 77 Section 2.Paragraph (r) of subsection (2) of section 78 381.981, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 79 381.981Health awareness campaigns. 80 (2)The awareness campaigns shall include the provision of 81 educational information about preventing, detecting, treating, 82 and curing the following diseases or conditions. Additional 83 diseases and conditions that impact the public health may be 84 added by the board of directors of the Florida Public Health 85 Institute, Inc.; however, each of the following diseases or 86 conditions must be included in an awareness campaign during at 87 least 1 month in any 24-month period: 88 (r)Substance abuse, including, but not limited to, 89 emergency opioid antagonists. 90 Section 3.Subsection (8) is added to section 395.1041, 91 Florida Statutes, to read: 92 395.1041Access to emergency services and care. 93 (8)REPORTING OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE OVERDOSES.A hospital 94 emergency department or an urgent care center that treats and 95 releases a person in response to a suspected or actual overdose 96 of a controlled substance must report such incident to the 97 department if the patient was not transported by a transport 98 service operating pursuant to part III of chapter 401. Such 99 reports must be made using an appropriate method with secure 100 access, including, but not limited to, the Washington/Baltimore 101 High Intensity Drug Trafficking Overdose Detection Mapping 102 Application Program, the Florida Prehospital EMS Tracking and 103 Reporting System (EMSTARS), or another program identified by 104 department rule. If a hospital emergency department or an urgent 105 care center reports such an incident, it must use its best 106 efforts to make the report to the department within 120 hours 107 after becoming aware of the incident. 108 Section 4.This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.