II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 921
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue guidance
on whether hospital emergency departments should implement fentanyl
testing as a routine procedure for patients experiencing an overdose,
and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH10, 2025
Mr. B
ANKS(for himself, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. WARNER, and Mr.
Y
OUNG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to
issue guidance on whether hospital emergency depart-
ments should implement fentanyl testing as a routine
procedure for patients experiencing an overdose, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as ‘‘Tyler’s Law’’. 4
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•S 921 IS
SEC. 2. TESTING FOR FENTANYL IN HOSPITAL EMERGENCY 1
DEPARTMENTS. 2
(a) S
TUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 3
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 4
Human Services shall complete a study to determine— 5
(1) how frequently hospital emergency depart-6
ments test for fentanyl (in addition to testing for 7
other substances such as amphetamines, 8
phencyclidine, cocaine, opiates, and marijuana) when 9
a patient is experiencing an overdose; 10
(2) the costs associated with such testing for 11
fentanyl; 12
(3) the potential benefits and risks for patients 13
receiving such testing for fentanyl; and 14
(4) how fentanyl testing in hospital emergency 15
departments may impact the experience of the pa-16
tient, including— 17
(A) protections for the confidentiality and 18
privacy of the patient’s personal health informa-19
tion; and 20
(B) the patient-physician relationship. 21
(b) G
UIDANCE.—Not later than 6 months after com-22
pletion of the study under subsection (a), based on the 23
results of such study, the Secretary of Health and Human 24
Services shall issue guidance on the following: 25
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•S 921 IS
(1) Whether hospital emergency departments 1
should implement fentanyl testing as a routine pro-2
cedure for patients experiencing an overdose. 3
(2) How hospitals can ensure that clinicians in 4
their hospital emergency departments are aware of 5
which substances are being tested for in their rou-6
tinely-administered drug tests, regardless of whether 7
those tests screen for fentanyl. 8
(3) How the administration of fentanyl testing 9
in hospital emergency departments may affect the 10
future risk of overdose and general health outcomes. 11
(c) D
EFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘hospital 12
emergency department’’ means a hospital emergency de-13
partment as such term is used in section 1867(a) of the 14
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395dd(a)). 15
Æ
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