Public Act 096-0361
 
HB0497 Enrolled LRB096 03560 DRJ 17901 b

    AN ACT concerning health.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse and
Dependency Act is amended by adding Section 5-23 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 301/5-23 new)
    Sec. 5-23. Drug Overdose Prevention Program.
    (a) Reports of drug overdose.
        (1) The Director of the Division of Alcoholism and
    Substance Abuse may publish annually a report on drug
    overdose trends statewide that reviews State death rates
    from available data to ascertain changes in the causes or
    rates of fatal and nonfatal drug overdose for the preceding
    period of not less than 5 years. The report shall also
    provide information on interventions that would be
    effective in reducing the rate of fatal or nonfatal drug
    overdose.
        (2) The report may include:
            (A) Trends in drug overdose death rates.
            (B) Trends in emergency room utilization related
        to drug overdose and the cost impact of emergency room
        utilization.
            (C) Trends in utilization of pre-hospital and
        emergency services and the cost impact of emergency
        services utilization.
            (D) Suggested improvements in data collection.
            (E) A description of other interventions effective
        in reducing the rate of fatal or nonfatal drug
        overdose.
    (b) Programs; drug overdose prevention.
        (1) The Director may establish a program to provide for
    the production and publication, in electronic and other
    formats, of drug overdose prevention, recognition, and
    response literature. The Director may develop and
    disseminate curricula for use by professionals,
    organizations, individuals, or committees interested in
    the prevention of fatal and nonfatal drug overdose,
    including, but not limited to, drug users, jail and prison
    personnel, jail and prison inmates, drug treatment
    professionals, emergency medical personnel, hospital
    staff, families and associates of drug users, peace
    officers, firefighters, public safety officers, needle
    exchange program staff, and other persons. In addition to
    information regarding drug overdose prevention,
    recognition, and response, literature produced by the
    Department shall stress that drug use remains illegal and
    highly dangerous and that complete abstinence from illegal
    drug use is the healthiest choice. The literature shall
    provide information and resources for substance abuse
    treatment.
        The Director may establish or authorize programs for
    prescribing, dispensing, or distributing naloxone
    hydrochloride or any other similarly acting and equally
    safe drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
    for the treatment of drug overdose. Such programs may
    include the prescribing of naloxone hydrochloride or any
    other similarly acting and equally safe drug approved by
    the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of
    drug overdose to and education about administration by
    individuals who are not personally at risk of opioid
    overdose.
        (2) The Director may provide advice to State and local
    officials on the growing drug overdose crisis, including
    the prevalence of drug overdose incidents, trends in drug
    overdose incidents, and solutions to the drug overdose
    crisis.
    (c) Grants.
        (1) The Director may award grants, in accordance with
    this subsection, to create or support local drug overdose
    prevention, recognition, and response projects. Local
    health departments, correctional institutions, hospitals,
    universities, community-based organizations, and
    faith-based organizations may apply to the Department for a
    grant under this subsection at the time and in the manner
    the Director prescribes.
        (2) In awarding grants, the Director shall consider the
    necessity for overdose prevention projects in various
    settings and shall encourage all grant applicants to
    develop interventions that will be effective and viable in
    their local areas.
        (3) The Director shall give preference for grants to
    proposals that, in addition to providing life-saving
    interventions and responses, provide information to drug
    users on how to access drug treatment or other strategies
    for abstaining from illegal drugs. The Director shall give
    preference to proposals that include one or more of the
    following elements:
            (A) Policies and projects to encourage persons,
        including drug users, to call 911 when they witness a
        potentially fatal drug overdose.
            (B) Drug overdose prevention, recognition, and
        response education projects in drug treatment centers,
        outreach programs, and other organizations that work
        with, or have access to, drug users and their families
        and communities.
            (C) Drug overdose recognition and response
        training, including rescue breathing, in drug
        treatment centers and for other organizations that
        work with, or have access to, drug users and their
        families and communities.
            (D) The production and distribution of targeted or
        mass media materials on drug overdose prevention and
        response.
            (E) Prescription and distribution of naloxone
        hydrochloride or any other similarly acting and
        equally safe drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
        Administration for the treatment of drug overdose.
            (F) The institution of education and training
        projects on drug overdose response and treatment for
        emergency services and law enforcement personnel.
            (G) A system of parent, family, and survivor
        education and mutual support groups.
        (4) In addition to moneys appropriated by the General
    Assembly, the Director may seek grants from private
    foundations, the federal government, and other sources to
    fund the grants under this Section and to fund an
    evaluation of the programs supported by the grants.
    (d) Health care professional prescription of drug overdose
treatment medication.
        (1) A health care professional who, acting in good
    faith, directly or by standing order, prescribes or
    dispenses an opioid antidote to a patient who, in the
    judgment of the health care professional, is capable of
    administering the drug in an emergency, shall not, as a
    result of his or her acts or omissions, be subject to
    disciplinary or other adverse action under the Medical
    Practice Act of 1987, the Physician Assistant Practice Act
    of 1987, the Nurse Practice Act, the Pharmacy Practice Act,
    or any other professional licensing statute.
        (2) A person who is not otherwise licensed to
    administer an opioid antidote may in an emergency
    administer without fee an opioid antidote if the person has
    received the patient information specified in paragraph
    (4) of this subsection and believes in good faith that
    another person is experiencing a drug overdose. The person
    shall not, as a result of his or her acts or omissions, be
    liable for any violation of the Medical Practice Act of
    1987, the Physician Assistant Practice Act of 1987, the
    Nurse Practice Act, the Pharmacy Practice Act, or any other
    professional licensing statute, or subject to any criminal
    prosecution arising from or related to the unauthorized
    practice of medicine or the possession of an opioid
    antidote.
        (3) A health care professional prescribing an opioid
    antidote to a patient shall ensure that the patient
    receives the patient information specified in paragraph
    (4) of this subsection. Patient information may be provided
    by the health care professional or a community-based
    organization, substance abuse program, or other
    organization with which the health care professional
    establishes a written agreement that includes a
    description of how the organization will provide patient
    information, how employees or volunteers providing
    information will be trained, and standards for documenting
    the provision of patient information to patients.
    Provision of patient information shall be documented in the
    patient's medical record or through similar means as
    determined by agreement between the health care
    professional and the organization. The Director of the
    Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, in
    consultation with statewide organizations representing
    physicians, advanced practice nurses, physician
    assistants, substance abuse programs, and other interested
    groups, shall develop and disseminate to health care
    professionals, community-based organizations, substance
    abuse programs, and other organizations training materials
    in video, electronic, or other formats to facilitate the
    provision of such patient information.
        (4) For the purposes of this subsection:
        "Opioid antidote" means naloxone hydrochloride or any
    other similarly acting and equally safe drug approved by
    the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of
    drug overdose.
        "Health care professional" means a physician licensed
    to practice medicine in all its branches, a physician
    assistant who has been delegated the prescription or
    dispensation of an opioid antidote by his or her
    supervising physician, an advanced practice registered
    nurse who has a written collaborative agreement with a
    collaborating physician that authorizes the prescription
    or dispensation of an opioid antidote, or an advanced
    practice nurse who practices in a hospital or ambulatory
    surgical treatment center and possesses appropriate
    clinical privileges in accordance with the Nurse Practice
    Act.
        "Patient" includes a person who is not at risk of
    opioid overdose but who, in the judgment of the physician,
    may be in a position to assist another individual during an
    overdose and who has received patient information as
    required in paragraph (2) of this subsection on the
    indications for and administration of an opioid antidote.
        "Patient information" includes information provided to
    the patient on drug overdose prevention and recognition;
    how to perform rescue breathing and resuscitation; opioid
    antidote dosage and administration; the importance of
    calling 911; care for the overdose victim after
    administration of the overdose antidote; and other issues
    as necessary.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
1, 2010.